Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"

See other formats

Hnnals of

WYOMING

Tne Wyoming

His

tory Journal

Winter 1998

Vol.

70, No.

-"'■

.i;;-^^^m^.

^-^

.._.,™_*^Sfcw,..,...,,._, ■-

-«v

-,j*S«®^«-

«^s^

*■

1^ *i«..>0—

Ar)out the Cover Art

"Transcontinental Telegraph Lines"

William H. Jackson (1843-1942) was a pioneer of the American West. His contribu-
tions range from senice with the U. S. Geological Sun'cv to participation in the
establishment of Yellowstone and Mesa Verde National Parks. Jackson 's art and
photography have memorialized the West. The work documented, for the fust time,
the irrepressible beauty of the western landscape. This particular piece bv Jackson
illustrates the evolution of the West as well as his interpretation of the construction
of the transcontinental telegraph. The painting was done in 1933. More of Jackson 's
work can be seen at the American Heritage Center. University of Wyoming, in an
upcoming exhibit of his work. "Through the Lens and Brush. " The cover painting is
courtesy of the American Heritage Center. University of Wyoming. —Pedro E. Fornes

The editor of Annals of Wyoming welcomes manuscripts and photographs on every aspect of the history' of Wyoming and the West.
Appropriate for submission are unpubHshed, research-based articles which provide new information or which offer new interpreta-
tions of historical events. First-person accounts based on personal experience or recollections of events will be considered for use in
the "Wyoming Memories" section. Articles are reviewed and refereed by members of the joumaPs Editorial Advisorv Board and
others. Decisions regarding publication are made by the editor. Manuscripts (along with suggestions for illustrations or photographs)
should be submitted on computer diskettes in a format created by one of the widely-used word processing programs along with two
printed copies. Submissions and queries should be addressed to Editor, .-innals of Wyoming. P. O. Box 4256, University Station,
Laramie WY 82071.

Editor
Pliil RoLerts

Book Review Editor
Carl Hallterg

Editorial Advisor\' Board

Barnara Bogart, Evan^ton
Maoel BrottTi, Newcastle
Michael J. De\'ine, Laramie
James B. Grirritk, Jr., Cneyenne
Don Hodgson, Torhngton
Loren Jost, Riverton
David KatnJca, Rock Springs
T. A. Larson, Laramie
Jonn D. McDermott, Sneridan
^'illiam H. Moore, Laramie
Kar\'l RoDD, Cneyenne
Snerry L. Smith, Moose
Tnomas F. StroocK, Casper
Lawrence M. Woods, W^rland

Wyoming State Historical Society

PuLIications Committee

RicK Ewig, Laramie

David KatnJca, Rock Springs

Snerrv' L. Smitn, Moose

Amv LaftTence, Laramie

Nancy Curtis, Glenao

Patty Myers, Wheatland (ex-oft'icio)

Loren Jost, Riverton (ex-orricio)

Pnd Roberts, Laramie (ex-onicio)

Wyoming' State Historical Society
Executive Committee

Patt>' Myers, President, Wheatland
Olen Morris, Kemmerer
Mike lording, Newcastle
Linda Fahian, Cheyenne
Marna Gruhh, Green Ri\-er
Barhara Bogart, E\'anston
Rick Ewig, Laramie
Amy Lawrence, Laramie
Dick Wilder, Cody

Governor oi Wyoming'

Jim Genni^er

Wyoming' Dept. or Commerce

Oene Bn'an, Director

Kary-'l Roth, Administrator, Di\-. or Cultural

Resources

Wyoming Parks 6^ Cultural Resources

Commission

U'dliam DuDois, Cheyenne

Michael). De\ine, Laramie

Diann Reese, Lyman

Rosie Berger, Big Horn

B. Byron Price, Cody

Herh French, Newcastle

Frank Tim Isahell, Shoshoni

Jeanne Hickey, Cneyenne

Hale Kreycik, Douglas

L^niversity oi Wyoming

Philip Dubois, President
Michael J. De\dne, Director,

American Heritage Center
Oliver Walter, Dean,

College of Arts and Sciences
William H. Moore, Chair, Dept. of Histon^

^rmnah of

WYOMING

The ^'yomin^ Histoiy Journal

Winter 1998 Vol. 70, No. 1

vCyoTTimg f^emories

Oral Histor\' in Wvoniinp 2

Wanted— ty Wkom?

Ben Mills as Indian Agent

Bv Martin Luscnei

Music as Artiract: The Johnson County War Ballads

By Ariel A. Downing 13

Oeorge G. Lobdell, Jr. and the Yale ^cientiric Expedition
of 1871 at Fort Bridger

By Maiy Faitk Pankin 25

Book Review^s

Edited ty Carl HallLerg 45

Recent Acquisitions in tke Heoard Collection, I'AV Libraries

Compiled bv Tarnsen L. Hert 46

Index 47

Wyoming' Picture I nside BacL

Annals of Wyoming The Wyoming History Journal is published quarterl\ by the Wyoming State Historical
Society in association with the Wyoming Department of Commerce, the American Heritage Center, and the
Department of History, University of Wyoming. The journal was previously published as the Quarterly
Bulletin ( 1 923- 1 925 ), Annals of Wyoming ( 1 925-1 993 ), Wyoming Annals ( 1 993-1 995 ) and Wyoming His-
tory Journal (1995-1996). The Annals has been the official pubhcation of the Wyoming State Historical
Society since 1953 and is distributed as a benefit of membership to all society members. Membership dues
are: single, $20; joint, S30; student (under 21 ), $15; institutional, S40; contributing, $100-249; sustaining,
$250-499; patron. $500-999; donor, $1,000+. To join, contact >our local chapter or write to the address
below. .Articles in Annals of Wyoming xt abstracted in Historical Abstracts and America Histoiy and Life.

Editorial correspondence and inquiries about reprints and back issues should be addressed to the editorial
office of Annals of Wyoming. American Heritage Center, P. O. Box 4256, University Station, Laramie WY
82071. Inquiries about membership and distribution should be addressed to Judy West, Coordinator. Wyo-
ming State Historical Society, 1 740H 1 84 Dell Range Bl\d., Che\ enne WY 82009.

ISSN: 1086-7368

y ommg

"^^-^

emones

j/ie j-oUowin^ segments were drawn in 19S3 from ihe oralnistoru collection /lefcf Su
wnat was men t/ie (SJuomin^ <bia/e ^rcniues^ jKuseums and yfistoricafT^epart'
men/, now pan/ of /ne CjuJ/uraJ Jiesources Division^ <b/a/e Depar/ment of Commerce.
m/ tne /ime //lese were compilecf, /ne s/a/e collec/ion /o/alecf some 700 indivicfuaf oral
his/orij in/eruiews. Jne collection since nas arown /o /ripfe /na/ number.

Dral JhiisiortJ in (QJtJominq

^~ / he actual voices on tape were used in a slide-
J tape presentation called "Voices from Wyo-
ming's Past. "
In an interview made in December, 1971, Charles
Lawrence and .Jim Dil/inger talked to Clare Johnson
about what downtown Buffalo looked like in 1897. In
this extract. Lawrence talks about Main Street. '
Interviewer: "Charlie, what were the streets like in
those days? "

Charles Lawrence: "The streets were nothing but a
dirt readjust a dirt road period and that's all there was
to it. There was no sidewalk, no trees, nothing but a
dirt road. All of those big trees you see here weren't
there. There might have been some of them — a few of
them were small trees about four or five feet tall."
Interviewer: "Some of your sidewalks, Charlie, were
hoard sidewalks? "

Lawrence: "Well, as we get on further downtown we
have board sidewalks. I don't know as there were any
board sidewalks up here or not."
Interviewer: "Charlie, how would the setting of 75
years ago compare with that of today as far as. . . oh,
what could you see down main street 75 years ago? "
Lawrence: "Looking north down Main Street, the first
thing you could see was the Episcopal Church from
here. And. now at the present time, there are people
coining out in cars, and coming out of those residences
and going places. It looks as though they've had a con-
vention over here someplace where what used to be the
Wright house...."

^"^ /^elen Oliver of Newcastle, in an oral history in-
Jj terview done by Phil Roberts in 1979, talked
about her remembrances of what downtown
Newcastle looked like just after the turn of the cen-
tury.-

Interviewer: "Did Newcastle look pretty much the
same downtown? "

Oliver: "Pretty much the same. The main part. Of
course, from the railroad tracks there were two or three
buildings there and the mill and on from there on out,
there was nothing — no houses or nothing."
Interviewer: "The downtown was right there where it
is now? "

Oliver: "The Main Street's very much the same. Of
course, they've got some false fronts on and so forth.
(laughter). And that Antler's Hotel — that's one of the
oldest buildings in town."
Interviewer: "Oh, it is?"

Oliver: "It was used by the Cambria Fuel Company
for — they had kind of a commissary there, I guess. They
sold dry goods and they had offices, before it was a
hotel. So that's one of the old ones. And that building
on the comer this way across from the Antler, that's an
old one, too. That was what they called the Kendrick
Block. And, oh, most of those buildings up — but you

' Charles Lawrence interview, Oral History interview (hence-
forth abbreviated as OH) No. 6 (Dec. 4, 1971), Division of Cul-
tural Resources. State Department of Commerce (henceforth ab-
breviated as DoC).

- Helen Oliver interview. OH-408 (May 7, 1979), DoC.

Winter 1Q98

know, we've had two or three bad fires which would
take the whole block almost at a time. Where Penney
Store is, Flemings had a hardware store there and that
whole block burned one night. And the block across
the street from the Antler's Hotel down — that all burned
one time."

Interviewer: "Do vou remcnihcr those fires? "
Oliver: "'Oh, yes. And then up the street — up, well,
you know . where the laundr\ — dry cleaners is? There
was a building there they called it the "House of Blazes."
It was a house of ill repute and a saloon down below.
And they were ha\ing a dance in town that night and
they heard the tire whistle blow. My mother had a
schoolteacher with her and they lived on the hill where
they could see everything. She looked out the window
and she said, 'Oh, it's the old House of Blazes." And
Mrs. Burton said, 'It looked like blazes, all right." So it
burned."

Often times, the only way that one can obtain
the history of workini^ people is through oral
history. Many of them didn t keep diaries or
journals and many times newspapers omitted mention
of their activities. In the following tape, done in the
summer of 1979 in Casper, a long-time Rock Springs
resident and Welsh natiye. Thomas Clnu'les Hearn.
talked to Phil Roberts about the early days in the mines
and the strikes in the WJOs.-'

Interviewer: "Diil you ever haye — were there any
strikes in the mines when you where there'.' "
Hearn: "Oh, yes. Even in 1922 when I was paying for
this home, we went out on strike. Conditions got so
bad that — and coal operators wouldn't settle. I don't
know why they wouldn't settle. Because there was a
demand for coal. I will say this about a strike. Both
sides lose in a strike. So we went back to work after
being out for tl\ e months under the same conditions as
we started and we couldn't get an\ satisfaction from
the mine operators, so we had to go back to work. But
then in 1 945 we were out on strike three times in one
year. And that was w hen John L. Lewis was fighting to
compel the operators to pay so much into the miner's
welfare, which they are doing today."

/• "^/J more familiar theme of conflict in the histoiy
/~j of Wyoming was that between sheepmen and
^~^^ *• cattlemen. In the following interyiew done in
the summer of 1 9S() in Worland. Ethel Townsend talks
about her recollections of the sheep and the cattle dis-
turbiuices at the turn of the century.'*

Townsend: "Of course, that stirred up a lot of — why,
people w ho were friends, if they were in sympathv w ith
the sheep, they were no longer friends."
Interviewer: "Do you remember w ho brought the fust
sheep into this area'.'""

Townsend: "1 kind of believe it was .loe .Allcmand.
I'm not sure. You say it was'^ 1 knui of think it was.
Joe and Jack Allemand had sheep. They were up on
Spring Creek. And then, of course, there were quite a
few sheep that came into that part of the countr\ . but
we didn't have them down Ten Sleep for a long time.
But 1 have been several places where I worked — I've
always had to work for a living — I've seen crowds of
men gather getting ready to go and raid those sheep
camps. And they'd run the sheep o\ cr the banks, and
pile them up and kill a lot of them. And. of course,
they didn't kill an\ men for a longtime but the\ tlnalh
did. I think the worst raid — we li\ ed right at Ten Sleep
then — was when they killed Joe Allemand. Joe Emge
and a French young fellow up there by Spring Creek."

, ^—y annie Chamberlain ofCokcvillc talks about one
J^ of her neighbors who. at the turn of the ccn-
^—^ tury. had interests in caltlc cuul sheep This
interyie\y was made in 19^1.^

Cliamberlain: "He told us down there one night at
the table that he used to have cattle, but he couldn't
round them up. But he said he did round them up be-
cause w hen he got out to round them up on foot. thc\
all took in after him and he had to herd all of them ...he
had the herd all rounded up. So he sold his cattle and
went into sheep and. 1 think, the tlrst time that he came
here. 1 think, he had 28 head of ..or 28 bands. Of course,
there was no reser\ e here then and \ ou could look out
on the west side and sheep — the hills were mo\ ing with
sheep. They could just go anywhere and everywhere.
But up until that time you could look over on the west
side and it looked just exactly like a green \el\et ear-
pet over there. But it didn't take long for the sheep to
kill it out."

(~^/y^leber Hadsell of Carbon Counn' nuule this oral

/| history tape sometime around 19" 2. Hadsell

was an early resident of Carbon Count}' lunl

he talked about his experiences with sheep, cattle luid

the deadline.^'

"' Thomas Charles Hearn interview, OH-4:n (,luf\ 10, 1070),
DoC.

■^ Ethel Townsend interview, OH-638 (June, 1980), DoC.

^ Fannie Chamberlain interview, OH- 10, (Nov. 2. 1071).
DoC.

•^ Kleber Hadsell interview, OH-30.A&B, (1072), DoC.

Annals of Wyoming :Tke Wyoming Histon-

Hadsell: "Oh, sheep were supposed to stay on the
south side of that line and the cattle, oh, they usually
went about where they wanted to. I thought a good
deal about that deadline and thought it would be a good
idea for me to go over and find out more about it. So I
appeared ov er at old Jessie Johnson's ranch on the north
side of the Green Mountains and asked him to ride with
me up on the line and so if there were places up there
where he particularly wanted me to stay out of, let me
know where the} were and if there were places where
he'd just as soon I'd go on the other side, let me know
that.

■■ folks along the Sweetwater. And 1 had my best

friends there. 1 was called on occasionally by those folks
to come o\er there with sheep whenever the\ were
threatened with sheep from outside...knowing that when
the dust all settled, that I'd move on."

/"""■> eni Diinihri/l talked about when she and her
^family came to Wyoming Just after the turn of
^^-^ the century and settled in southern Crook
County. 1)1 this 1980 intenien: she talked about the
move to Wyoming.^

Dumbrill: "We didn't have Pullmans or anything like
that. It was an emigrant train, too, and you were sup-
posed to take your lunch as much as you could keep,
\ ou know — as much as would keep. As we came west
it got, you know...

Interviewer: "Harder cuid harder? "
Dumbrill: "Yes."

Interviewer: "What did you take to eat? "
Dumbrill: "Well, an\thing that wouldn't spoil, you
know, maybe like cheese, sandwiches, fruit and we
could probabh get off once in a while..."
Interviewer: "There were places where you could
stop and other places where you couldn 't'^ "
Dumbrill: "Uh huh. And when we got to Newcastle,
we thought, well, if it looks like this experimental sta-
tion that they had down there then, you know, it was
going to be fine. We had to come up on the local freight
from Newcastle. There were just two freights and one
going each way, 1 think, at that time. So we came up
on the local freight to Thornton and it looked terrible...
It looked worse than anyplace we'd ever gone through."

/^"V n cm oral history interview made in April of

^/ 1972 Magnus Larson of Cheyenne talked about

Tom Horn.^

Larson: "It's a kind of touchy thing about Tom Horn

killing that boy. And people are so set in their ways —

they're so touchy about this thing. About half the
people — they're strongly for Tom Horn and say that
he never killed the kid. And the other half^and a lot
of these children and grandchildren are alive yet — they
all take sides. Tom Horn killed that boy.' Tom Horn
never killed him.' I never get into any arguments with
anyone. I keep that to myself When it comes to argu-
ing about Tom Horn, I'm one of the very few alive
who knew him personally, maybe the only one. I don't
know."

Interviewer: "Where did you know him"? "
Larson: "Tom Horn? Through Charlie Dereemer. I was
Charlie Dereemer's hired man. He used to come into
Cheyenne. ..and every time we'd come in, Dereemer
would take me up to the jail. And I remember the man,
the Sheriff Smalley. He's the man that hung Tom Horn,
you know. And anytime we'd come in, Dereemer would
take me up to the jail and Smalley would bring some
chairs and we'd sit outside there and visit with Tom
Horn. And I'm just as sure as I'm alive — I'd swear,
you know — that Tom Horn never killed that boy, after
hearing him explain the whole thing and all the lies
that they gave about him. But he had so many people
afraid of him because he did kill some people after they
drew their gun on him first."

Other famous people are subjects of oral his-
tory interviews. Lorenzo Burdeft of Evanston.
interviewed in J 973. talked about another fa-
mous individual in Wyoming histoiy that went on to
national prominence. ^

Burdett: "I might say working for Penney, as we know,
James Cash Penney — J. C. Penney — a man that started
with nothing, made a fortune, and more friends than
the fortune... There was a man that was a man.
Interviewer: "There is no question about that. His
number two store, wasn 't it? "

Burdett: "Number 1 . Oh yes-Kemmerer was number
1 ... 1 902. But he worked here at the Evanston store for
three years before he opened the Penney's store. He
came here and worked for Johnson and Callahan first.
Callahan left — he didn't stay very long and Rolland
W. Stevens took over. In the meantime, Johnson-
Stevens had a wholesale house in Ogden where they
got their supplies and they opened this Golden Rule
store here in Evanston, and as far as I can remember

7 Fern Dumbrill interview, OH-414 (May 9, 1979), DoC.

8 Magnus Larson interview, OH-53 (Feb. 17, 1972). DoC.

9 Lorenzo Burdett interview, OH-54 (Jan. 9, 1973), DoC.

Winter JQ08

and figure, Mr. Penney started to work in 1 899, here at
the E\anston store. Now i was a very good friend of
Mr. Penney's and I lil\ed him, tall<.ed to him. After I
went to work for the railroad, I would even come up to
this store knowing that he was coming here to visit. 1
enjoyed coming up there and just having a conversa-
tion with him and talk with him for a little while."

(' "J / T 'iiijy persons uuerviewedfur oral history talk

/ / 1 '-'f^oiit their recollections of coming to Wyo-

Diing^ Bessie Tillelt. an earl}' resident of the

Lovell area, interviewed in 1979. talks about when she

and her family came to IVyomingfrom South Dakota.^^-

Tillett: "Anywa} . we came with the railroad as far as
Custer's Battlefield and we wintered there. And then
the next spring, we were told about what wonderful
countrx the Big Horn Basin was and open for agricul-
ture. So my dad decided to come to this part of the
country and we came in November, 1894. And, of
course, this looked like a pretty good place— Lovell —
so that was my dad's homestead and mother's desert
right and they spent them here, see? And then we lived
six years before the Mormon people "

Jf:

n)T May of Teton County in this interview
made several years ago talks about his fust
rear in Jackson Hole in lti96. ' '

May: "The next da>^ we pulled o\ er from Ditch Creek
over onto the Gros Ventre and camped in there and
then we came on back and started to make a house.
Filed on land and started to build a house on the ranch —
on the homestead — see, down next to the butte. So, of
course, that winter we didn't have an> hay for our stock.
We had to go down and put up this slough grass hay
north of Jackson here. We all worked together — the
whole bunch — the Budges and Aliens, and the bunch
of us who came from Rockland and took the contract
and they put that hay up. I think my father got a dollar
and a quarter a day for stacking. And we had iron
wheeled wagons then, you know, and nets we would
hang the nets out over the baskets and till them and
take them and attach them to a pulley and go up on the
scissor derrick and a cable, and so that's where we win-
tered. We wintered up on the Nelson place just south
of Jackson here the tlrst winter — or just north of Jack-
son, I should say."

^ ^ eorge T. Beck, talking to the Park Count}' His-
^--^ torical Societ}' several years ago about his
recollections and some of the background of

his father, one of the founders ofCodv. talked about
when Cody was laid out. '-

Beck: "Dad said that when he laid out — he was a sur-
veyor. He had been a civil engineer and when he laid
out the town of Cody on its present site here, he said he
took some sightings on the North Star. You know the
North Star makes a little tiny circle and he took some
sightings on that North Star long enough so he could
get the exact center of the circle made by the North
Star. So Cody is supposed to be as near perfectly north
and south as he could get it. And he said — perhaps
most of you have heard this story and 1 always like
it — he said that when he laid it out. he and Charlie
Hayden were running the lines and so forth and Dad
had the plat of the city along with him. he laid it down
on the ground and put a rock on top of it and the\ w ent
off, you know, and — to la\ out some more lines and he
said a little dust de\il came along and grabbed a hold
of this paper and pulled it out from under the rock and
the last thing he saw of it, it was going right up m the
sky. He said he always felt that the original plat of
Cody was registered w ith St. Peter. Quite a distinction
for our town..."

One of the tnost controversial incii/ents in U'\'ii-
ming histoiy was the so-called Johnson County
Invasion. In this particular tape made in 1961.
Russell Thorp talked to Lola llonishcr iibout his opm-
ions of the Johnson CouiUv Wlu-}"

Thorp: "Now Mike Shonsex , incidentall\ . in the course
of conversation, 1 discussed with him the tnne of the
Kaycee tight. He was supposed to have killed one of
those men. I asked him about that. He said he wasn't
sure if he did it or somebody else. But the\ say. that
the cattlemen went in there and set the buildings atlre
without giving those men any show whatever. Mike
Shonsey assured me that they gave those men e\er\
opportunity to surrender which they refused to do. So,
of course, they were cattle thieves and there's no ques-
tion about it. And 1 am convinced from m_\ personal
observations and talking w ith these men who would —
the boys say they would talk to me w hen they wouldn't
anybody else because I happen to know a good deal
about it."
Interviewer: "They trusted you. "

'" Bessie Tillett interview, OH-61 (Oct. 21. 1971). DoC.
" Henry and Hattie May. OH-QS (Feb. 11. 1966). DoC.
'- George T. Beck, recording of lecture to Park Countx
Historical Society. OH-147 (n.d.). DoC,

'' Russell Thorp interview. OH-156 (.liil\ 20. 1959). DoC.

Annals of WyomingiTke Wyoming History Journal

Thorp: "And they all were for law and order and fron-
tier justice and I'm a great believer in that although a
ver\- distinguished author — or authoress — said she was
sick and tired of hearing of frontier justice, but I know
if we hadn't had it why, no telling where we'd be.
There's a great deal written about the Johnson County
Cattle War — or the invasion or whatever you want to
call it. But it's admitted it was a failure in many re-
spects. On the other hand, after this was over, the cattle
stealing declined very materially."

/■""T 1 ut oral hisro)y doesn 't have to be about events
J\ that occurred 80 or 90 or 100 years ago. Even
incidents in the 1930s and 1940s can be sub-
jects of oral history interviews. In this interview con-
ducted of Mabel Brown in the summer of 1979, she
talked about the Depression era around Newcastle. '"*

Brown: "After our first child was bom, we decided to
go back to the ranch. Wes' sister had bought a place
that was being lost because of foreclosure of mortgage.
Wes' roots were deep in the soil. His folks had home-
steaded and were pioneers in the prairie country. So I
thought it would be kind of a lark. I'd never slept on a
homestead where it was really a place to live. I'd lived
in one overnight — had a lot to learn.

We took our savings and bought some second hand
farming machinery, took part of the wages in a cow
and a calf and moved out to the prairie. We hit bad
years. ..we had seven years with drought and grasshop-
pers and — but never a crop. It was at the same time
the\ were — rationing — not rationing, putting quotas on
the amount of grain you could raise and all. Killing the
cattle, butchering them and just leaving them lay.

This I can remember at the oil field. This goes back a
little bit and I'm not really in sequence, but when we
were driving through the Osage oil field to Osage, the
cattle were just lying along the road, burning in the
sun, their legs stiff and up in the air... They paid ranch-
ers about $20-S25 and then shoot the cattle and leave
them lay there. They wouldn't let anybody go and
butcher them to use for meat because that would be
defeating the purpose of the slaughter of the cattle in

the first place. It was to try to make the price go up and
reduce the supply.

Anyway, they did the same way with the wheat. You
weren't allowed to plant over a certain acreage and if
you had more wheat then — that came up volunteer, you
couldn't harvest that because that would, of course, be
cutting down on the demand and they would fine you —
that you were raising more than you should. But we
didn't have that problem for a long time and then one
year, we had a beautiful crop — the best crop you can
imagine anyplace. Wes went to Sundance and bought
a binder and brought it back over home.

It was one of those Wyoming days that could only
be in Wyoming — the sky so blue, bright and clear.
There was one big white cloud sailing around up
there... one of those thunderheads.

I said to Wes, maybe you just better wait until this is
over with before — to see what this cloud does. By the
time we saw what the cloud did, it was just like the
fields had been plowed. Just wiped out. We didn't even
unload the binder.

Wes is pretty brave about things. I cried. I wanted
him to give up and go from the farm. I'd had enough. I
had lost several children. I thought it was all the farm's
fault, you know.

But, he said, *0h, we can't quit now, lady. It's like a
poker game. We got to stay in and get well.'"

'-•Mabel Brown interview, OH-412 (May 9, 1979), DoC.

This article is a transcription of a special program
produced in 1983 by the Historical Research Di-
vision, Wyoming State Archives, Museums and His-
torical Department (a successor agency to today 's
Cultural Resources Division, Department of Com-
merce). Rick Ewig, presently assistant director of
the American Heritage Center, University of Wyo-
ming, and Phil Roberts, currently editor of Annals
and a faculty member of the Department of His-
toiy. University of Wyoming, produced the pro-
gram when both were employees of the Historical
Research Division.

Wanted— by Wk

Ben Mills as Indian A^ent

om?

Bv Martin Luscnei

Group of U. S. Commissioners ami Iintuin Chiefs. Fort Laramie. Wyoming. IS6S.
L-R: unidentified: Paclis Ins Drums. Ogalala Sioux isittingi: Jolin Finn: .-Imos
Bettelyon: W. H. Bullock (sittingl:Old Man Afraid of his Horses. Benjamin Mills
(sitting): Red Bear: James Bordeaux. Courtesy of the Bureau of American Eth-
nology, photo in the collections of the Wyoming State Museum.

In 1870, when he rinaily agreed to go on the reservation, the poweriul Lahota warrior
Red Cloud laid down his terms: he wanted ^. G. Bulloch lor his trader and Ben Mills ror
his agent. "Lolonel Bullock was a ci\dlian, a \ nginia gentleman well known around Fort
Laramie and orten mentioned in accounts oi the time. Married to a great-great-great
niece or George Washington, iamous lor his eggnogs, he lived on post and mingled Ireely
with the oHicers and their wives. But who was Ben Mills?

'James C. Olson. Red Cloud and the Sioii.x Problem (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1965;. 109 (page citations are to
the 1975 Bison reprint).

Annals or Wyoniing:The Wyoming History Journal

Benjamin Buckner Mills, in the denigrating lan-
guage of the day, was a "squaw man," a white
man married to an Indian woman. What was
undoubtedly a common view of such men was voiced
by Dr. Valentine T. McGillycuddy, who upon becom-
ing agent at Pine Ridge promptly became nemesis to
Red Cloud, as Red Cloud soon was to him. Testifying
out of the hearing of Red Cloud's people in 1883,
McGillycuddy unburdened himself on what he saw as
the major underlying difficulty: a class of men who
made his task all but impossible:

These Indians, sitting in general council, half the time
do not know what they are talking about. They are as a
rule giving voice to the advice given them by white
men and squaw-men. . . The squaw-men realize that as
soon as the Indians become self-supporting they will
have to support their squaws, just as if they were mar-
ried to white women, and it has been my experience
that the squaw-men are opposed to everything like
advancement, and do not want to work; they have taken
up with the squaws, and come here because too lazy to
work in the East, or they have escaped justice. -

A damning picture, indeed. Red Cloud had a view
equally as unflattering of the men being dispatched from
the East to manage affairs with the Indians, and he had
ample reason to expect that his choice of agent and
trader would be honored. He had just returned from a
triumphal trip to the East where he had been lionized
in New York. His view of the new breed had been
quoted in the Times:

I was brought up among the traders, and those who
came out there in the early times treated me well and I
had a good time with them. They taught us to wear
clothes and to use tobacco and ammunition. But, by
and by, the Great Father sent out a different kind of
men; men who cheated and drank whisky; men who
were so bad that the Great Father could not keep them
at home and so sent them out there. ^

Behind this exchange of compliments a small drama
played out, unobserved by the Times, an episode that
tells a good deal about the values and attitudes of the
moment, and the workings of government policy where
Indians were concerned. Considering Red Cloud's pres-
tige and his repeated demands for Mills as his agent,
not to mention the considerable dust he was capable of
stirring up, the question arises: why was Mills not ap-
pointed? The question calls for a closer look. But first
a brief note about the man himself Who was Ben Mills,
and why did Red Cloud want him for his agent?

For fifteen years Mills was a familiar figure in the
sutler's store at Fort Laramie. Beginning in 1856 as a
clerk, he advanced to trader and then to bookkeeper.
His assistant bookkeeper, Gibson Clark, went on to
become Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court.
A successor as clerk, John Hunton, was to become
known as the sage of Fort Laramie. B. B. Mills, on the
other hand, seems to have been a shy or self-effacing
man who preferred to remain in the background.

On at least one occasion, he failed. In one of the most
widely published photos taken at Fort Laramie during
the treaty negotiations of 1868 (left). Mills appears,
usually unidentified, between two standing warriors,
Old Man Afraid of His Horses and Red Bear. A bearded
man in his thirties, he sits facing the morning sun, his
eyes shaded by a narrow-brimmed hat, left leg crossed
over right, the light glancing off the sole of his boot.
To his left, shaking hands with Red Bear, stands trader
James Bordeaux, one of the best-known figures around
the fort. To his right sits Colonel Bullock. With Laramie
Peak looming behind him, Mills faces the east, a cer-
tain jauntiness in his look, as if to say he's made it this
far west and here he's going to stay.

His origins remain mysterious. The 1 860 census gives
his age as twenty-six, his birthplace as Michigan. By
1870 he was claiming Kentucky as his birthplace and
1832 as his date of birth."* Whatever the case, in 1856
he appeared at Westport, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas
City. A document dated October 7, signed by Robert
C. Miller, Indian Agent, grants "Benjaman B. Mills"
permission to trade with the "Camanche, Kiowa &
Appacha" Indians on the Arkansas River and with "the
Cheyennes & Arapahoes on the South Piatt & Repub-
lican Fork."^ No mention is made of the North Platte
or the Lakotas of the Fort Laramie region. Yet ten weeks
later Mills had made his way to Fort Laramie, where
he signed as a witness to a license for William Guerrier
to trade with the Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes
in the vicinity of the fort.^

In November 1857, Seth E. Ward was appointed post
sutler at Fort Laramie by Agent Thomas S. Twiss and
authorized to employ B. B. Mills as trader along with
Antoine Janis and William Guerrier. Early in 1858
Guerrier was killed by the explosion of a keg of pow-

- Olson, 293.

3 Olson 113.

■' U.S. Census Records, Fort Laramie National Historic Site.

5 Hunton file, folder #1, Cultural Resources Division, Wyo-
ming Department of Commerce, Cheyenne.

* Affidavit by Thomas S. Ivv-iss, Indian Agent Upper Platte,
December 20, 1856. Fort Laramie National Historical Site. Name
erroneously given as Guemier.

Tinter 1998

der he was hauling, whereupon Mills and Janis man-
aged the Indian trade. ^

Through all the forty years of its military history,
notes Merrill J. Mattes, the sutler's store was the busi-
est place at Fort Laramie, not only a vital supply link
on the great wagon road west hut also ""a focal point of
social intercourse for all classes of men in the melting
pot of frontier society." Colonel Bullock presided over
the place with gentlemanly Virginia manners and hos-
pitality. A colonel's wife, delighted with the atmo-
sphere, observed that his clerks attended courteously
to white and Indian alike and seemed ""equally ready
and capable, talking Sioux, Cheyenne, or English, just
as each case came to hand."^

One consequence of this intermingling was that Ben
Mills met and married Sally No Fat, a woman of Red
Cloud's band. Their first child, Emma, was bom in
1860, their second, Thomas, in 1863. The ledgers of
the post trader reflect the domestic acti\ ity. In Sep-
tember of 1 866, about the time another daughter, Anna,
arrived. Mills bought four yards of flannel and ten of
calico, then twenty more of calico a week later. In Oc-
tober he purchased ninety pounds of bacon and an axe
handle.'' The family did not li\ e at the fort itself, as did
Colonel Bullock, but most likely at the camp a mile or
so away with other families of white men married to
Indian women.

In the fall of 1867, with his family continuing to ex-
pand. Mills built a two-room log cabin a little over
three miles west of the fort — the first house in the v al-
ley.'O

The foregoing signs would appear to be unmistak-
ably those of a settler and famih man. Though to date
we cannot be certain where he came from or just why
he came west. Mills was clearly an enterprising young
man. Perhaps driven from home by a harsh parent or
mean circumstances, or by the misfortune of being a
younger son where only the eldest could inherit a foun-
dation to build on, he may simply have been lured, like
so many young men, by the promise of a continent
unfolding to the west. In his portfolio he surely carried
some education and the aptitude to make him a good
clerk, distinguishing marks among men who were of-
ten barely literate, even unsure how to spell their own
names.

The post had its own social order, segregated by sta-
tion. At the top sat the officers' wives, a tiny group
numbering eleven in 1 864, women bored and starved
for society, enduring the privations of frontier life.
Below them came the laundresses and seamstresses,
uneducated European immigrants with quarters on

"Soapsuds Row" who enjoyed the attentions of the
enlisted men — even marriage, on occasion. At the bot-
tom, of course, came the Indian women of ""Squaw
Town," presumably the place Mills and his family had
been living, a community set off by a decent mile, up-
stream from the fort. ' '

Clearly, a fundamental reason that Red Cloud wanted
Ben Mills for his agent was that he knew and trusted
Mills — a relative. He had the best of reasons for dis-
trusting an agent he did not know ; corruption in the
Indian agencies had become notorious. None other than
Robert Campbell, himself one of the founders of what
became Fort Laramie, addressed the topic:

A new crop of Indian agents. ha\ e recently been sent
to the plains &c, — a majority of whom seem to think
that instead of being a check on the traders, they should
participate in the profits! . . . [They] ha\ e frankly stated
that they did not accept the office of Indian Agt, for
the paltr>' salarv', and openly intimated they uiiemled
10 make more out of it. ' -

So Red Cloud's suspicions were founded in experi-
ence close at hand. But Red Cloud would not be mak-
ing the appointment.

Under the new peace policy he had adopted from the
Quakers, the newly elected President Grant had
launched an idealistic experiment. An Indian agent af-
ter 1840 was called upon to serve as
a military liaison otTicer. a policeman, an educator, a
purchaser and distributor of huge amounts of food, and
a banker who dispensed annuity finds. . . . [Such an
assignment] became a ripe plum in the spoils system.
For the weak and dishonest it was a w idc-open oppor-
runirv' for quick wealth; for the honest man, it was an
impossible job.'-'

" .Agnes W right Spring, "Old Letter Book Discloses Economic
Historx of Fort Laramie, 1858-1871."" Annals of Wvomnig 13
(October 1941): 242n. Transcribed and edited from the letters of
W\ G. Bullock.

* "The Sutler's Store at Fort Laramie." Annals of ll'vommg 18,
no.2 (July 1Q46): 121. 106, 109.

' Post trader ledgers of Seth V\ard, 1866, 44. Fort Laramie
National Historical Site.

'" John Hunton, "Early Settlement of the Laramie River Val-
ley." Torrington, Wyoming, 1927. Unpublished manuscript in the
collections of Fort Laramie National Historical Site.

' ' Remi Nadeau, Fort Laramie and the Sioux ( Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1967; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1982). 151-153 (page citations are to the reprint edition).

'- Nadeau, 161. The example of John Loree, agent for the Up-
per Platte from 1862 to 1864. recounted in the following pages, is
instructive and to the point.

'-' Robert H. Keller, Jr., American Protestantism ami United
States Indian Policy. 1869-82 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1983), 10.

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

A great deal was seen to be riding on the Peace Policy.
An Episcopal bishop from New York saw the very prin-
ciples of Christianity facing a supreme test among 'the
painted Dakota and the murderous Modoc."''*

In the spring of 1870, with the Peace Policy still in
its infancy. Red Cloud let it be known he wanted to
visit the Great White Father in Washington, to talk about
the Treaty of 1 868 and possibly about going on a res-
ervation. Early in June he was welcomed to the White
House, where he was greeted by officials from Presi-
dent Grant down to Felix Brunot, chairman of the newly
established Board of Indian Commissioners, a board
of distinguished civilians designed to supervise rela-
tions with the Indians — and to restore public confidence
in the Indian service. Red Cloud voiced his insistence
upon Mills directly to Jacob D. Cox, Secretary of the
Interior, who said he would write down the names of
men the Indians wanted for agent and trader and as-
sured Red Cloud that Brunot would soon be sent west
to visit the Indians and to make sure that those appointed
would be good men, and men who could be trusted by
the government.'-"'

Late in the summer Brunot left for the West, accom-
panied by Robert Campbell, a fellow commissioner on
the board. Their recommendations would play a deci-
sive role in the appointments to be made by the Secre-
tary of the Interior. Campbell, by this time, had be-
come one of the wealthiest businessmen in St. Louis,
but he probably knew the West as well as anyone in all
that country. At twenty-one he had joined a party of
trappers led by Jedediah Smith. At thirty he had super-
vised the construction of Fort William, the forerunner
of Fort Laramie. Known and loved by mountain men
throughout the West, he was warmly received on this
occasion by both whites and Indians.'^ "'Anywhere on
the frontier," writes one historian, "among Indians or
whites, his credit was considerably better than that of
the government of the United States."'^

The Fort Laramie the two of them would find had
undergone change. Two years earlier, during the nego-
tiations over the treaty of 1868, Colonel Bullock had
written Campbell that he might be ending his trading
business: the Indian Commission was 'endeavoring to
take all the whites and Indians out of this country pre-
paratory I presume to abandoning the post."'^ Fore-
seeing the possibility, he formed a partnership with Ben
Mills that year and went into the cattle business. Mills
quit work in the store, moved his family into the log
house he had built, and went to Kansas and Missouri
and bought 250 milk cows, which he located on the
Laramie River near his house, a herd of beef cattle, the

basis for the famous "SO" brand." In the census of
1870, he gave his occupation as stock dealer.

When Brunot and Campbell finally connected with
Red Cloud at Fort Laramie in October 1 870, Campbell
told the chief they had come as friends and asked for
assurances Red Cloud would protect the traders who
would be sent out. Emphatically he said that though he
could not say who they might be, Red Cloud should
try them; he would find them "all right." The commis-
sioners were depending on Red Cloud "to do all that
[was] right.. . . [Campbell] hoped they would continue
to hear good reports from him and his people so that
they could tell the Great Father they were doing what
was right."-^°

Campbell returned to St. Louis and wrote Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs Eli S. Parker recommending
Ben Mills be appointed. Noting that Brunot, too, con-
sidered Mills "the best qualified of any man in that
country for the position," and that Red Cloud threat-
ened to drive any other appointee out of the country,
he affirmed that Mills was a man "well spoken of by
all the officers and residents at Fort Laramie." He be-
lieved Mills could "exercise a good influence over the
Sioux Indians which a stranger could not."-'

Brunot had his own agenda, one in closer harmony
with prevailing sentiments in the East. His task, as he
saw it, was tremendous: "There was a race to civilise,
there were agents to humanize, and there was a great
nation to educate in the principles of Christian love
toward an oppressed and heathen race."-- A prominent
Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist, he was

^Ubid., 16.

'-' Olson, 96-1 13; New York Times. June 1 1 and 12, 1870.

I*- Spring, 240.

" Harvey L. Carter. "Robert Campbell," in Trappers of the
Far West. ed. Leroy R. Hafen (Glendale, California: A. H. Clark,
1938; Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1984),
308 (page citation is to the reprint edition).

I* Bullock to Campbell, May 13, 1868, in Spring, Old Letter
Book. 258.

" John Hunton, "Scraps of History," to Mrs. Cyrus Beard,
March 7, 1928, Hunton File, manuscript 479B, Folder #4, Cul-
tural Resources Division, State Department of Commerce; John
Himton's Diary, ed. L. G. Flannery (Lingle, Wyoming: Guide
Review, 1956), entry for June 25, 1877, Part Two, 230.

-° Brunot and Campbell, Appendix to Second Annual Report of
the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1870 (Washington, 1871),
67, 71.

-' Campbell to Parker, October 27, 1870, National Archives,
RG 75, Letters Received, Upper Plane Agency, M-234, Roll 895.

-- Charles Lewis Slattery, Felix Reville Brunot (London and
Bombay: Longmans, Green and Company, 1901), 147.

Winter 19Q8

deeply committed to the crusade. A sample of the prayer
he otYered in opening the council with Red Cloud at
Fort Laramie, with the principal chiefs in attendance
as well as a large assemblage of Oglalas and residents
and visitors to the post, reveals the fer\or he brought
to the task:

We beseech Thee to bless the efforts of Thy servants
who are here in their behalf to promote peace and
friendship \\ ith the aborigines of this land. May our
words and counsels be tempered with wisdom; may
the hearts of these Indians be made sincere, and their
words truthful, and may sa\age warfare cease. Grant
that the\ ma\- be led into the way of peace and civili-
zation, and in Thy own time may these heathen he
claimed for the inheritance of our Lord and Sa\iour.--'

Brunot considered himself a genuine friend of the
Indians. He spent three or four months each summer
visiting the tribes where they lived. His biographer,
who thought him a great man, judges that he devoted
virtuall> all his time for tlve \'ears to this work.-'^ For a
month Brunot w eighed his decision. On November 1 0,
in a letter to Commissioner Parker, he recommended
for the appointment of Bullock as trader and against
the appointment of Mills as agent. It was proper to say.
he wrote, that Campbell favored appointing Mills as
agent but, adding that Mills had "an Indian wife and
half-breed children," that he had concluded that Mills
was "too nearly on a social level with the Indians." It
was said that formerly Mills had been 'intemperate,"
but that he had been "steady for several years." He was
"well spoken of b\' most persons at the Fort, and [had]
the reputation of an honest well beha\ed man."

Then came the

clinching argument.

[He] has too long been
identified with [the
Indians] and the fron-
tiersmen to have ei-
ther the capacity or
the inclination to do
any serious work for
the sal\ ation of the
Indians. To appoint
him agent would it
seems to me be a step
in the direction of per-
petuating past e\ ils.-^
A close look at the
holograph letter of this

high-minded man raises a chilling possibility. In the
first sentence, the word salvation, minutely obser\ ed
in Brunot"s handwriting (see below), appears to read
slavation. A Freudian slip'' A telling revelation, if so,
of Brunot's shadow side.

In any event, Brunot prevailed. His decision follow ed
close upon, and was reinforced b\ a new polic\ for the
Indian agencies pushed through Congress in the sum-
mer of 1 870 by reformers in the Hast: the agencies w ere
to be allocated among the various Protestant sects, who
would name the agents. The Red Cloud Agency was
awarded to the Protestant Episcopal Church, which
named John W. Wham as agent. Red Cloud was still
protesting the whole arrangement the following .lune
when Brunot found it necessary to make another trip
to Fort Laramie to fix upon a location for the agenc\ .
"I have consulted the Great Spirit," Red Cloud infomied
the officials present, "and I do not want a strange man
for my agent. There are plent_\ of men who can read
and w rite, w ho are married to m\ people, and the\ can
take care of me and my agency."-*'

The "poor bedeviled Wham," as James C. Olson re-
fers to him, seems to have encountered nothing but
trouble. Red Cloud w as his greatest headache, of course,
but he had diftlculties with Brunot. the Governor of
Wyoming, even the agent at the Spotted Tail Agency.
He was simply not up to the challenge of supervising
the agency and "the obstreperous Indians," Olson con-

-' Brunot and Campbell, ScccduI Annual Report. 62.
-^ Slatlen, 147-US.

-"" Brunot to Parker, November 10, 1870, National .Archives.
RG 75, Leners Received, L'pper Platte .Agencv, M234, Roll 8'56.
-'■ Olson, 137.

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

eludes. By fall he had "managed to alienate virtually
every man, red and white, with whom he had been in
contact."-'' At the end of October he was summarily
removed.

Would the appointment of Ben Mills have brought
different results? We can only speculate. To the extent
that knowledge of Red Cloud and his people and the
ability to speak Lakota would help. Mills would have
enjoyed a major advantage. If trust counts for anything
at all, the advantage would have been huge. His handi-
cap would surely have been a potential conflict of in-
terest, making it difficult for him to carry out policies
anathema to those under his supervision.-*

As for Mills himself the final chapter of his life
is shrouded in obscurity. Another daughter,
Lucie, had joined the family in 1868. At some
point in 1871, a second son was bom. The exact se-
quence of events is difficult to establish. One story in
the family today has it that Sally Bush, as Sally No Fat
is listed on the tribal rolls, ran off with another man
and left Mills with the children.-' If so, she must have
done so after the birth of Ben, Jr., and Mills must have
been shattered.

Ben Mills died in the late summer of 1 87 1 , probably
of the fiu or a similar ailment. The grandmother, Sally
Bush's mother, went to Fort Laramie and brought the
children to the newly established Red Cloud Agency.
One family story, difficult to verify, holds that a sister
of Ben Mills in Salt Lake City wanted to take the chil-
dren but that the grandmother refiised to give them up.
Ben Mills did have a younger brother, Richard, who
was living with the family in 1870 and later joined the
Gold Rush to Deadwood. Ten weeks after being elected
Assessor of Crook City in 1 878, he died, 'this esti-
mable gentleman," as the press report called him, ap-
parently killed by strong drink. -^'^' He is buried in the
potter's field at Mount Moriah.

No one knows with certainty where Ben Mills' grave
may be. One possibility suggested is Chugwater, near
where he kept what was known as the Ben Mills herd,
officially numbered at 400 at the time of his death.-''
He may have been buried with others just north of the
fort, on the site where the post hospital was constructed
in 1 873, and his remains later moved to make way for
the hospital.

Some controversy lingers over his estate, which was
administered by Gibson Clark. The Mills children re-
ceived nothing from it, and suspicion persists that John
Hunton "stole" fi-om it, a question that lies beyond the
scope of this inquiry, though among his peers Hunton
had a reputation for the highest integrity. After Mills

died, Hunton bought out Mills' interest in the Bullock-
Mills partnership. In his diary for 1875, he noted that
his debts exceeded his worth by some $7,000 and that
he still owed the Mills estate $900. According to L. G.
("Pat") Flannery, who edited the diaries, Hunton was
sfill having problems with the Mills estate in 1910.^2

Today the Mills family is well known and honored
on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Ben, Jr. lies not far
from Red Cloud, in the Old Cemetery at Holy Rosary
Mission near Pine Ridge. The best known of his de-
scendants is great-grandson Billy Mills, who as a young
Marine in 1 964 won the ten thousand meter race at the
Olympics, the only American ever to have done so, in
what one sports writer suggests may have been "the
greatest upset of all time."-" Another great-grandson
survived the Bataan Death March. A grandson, com-
mended for heroic service in France in 1944 lost a son
of his own in Vietnam.

Ben Mills leaves a family of descendants scattered
across the West, engaged in fields of endeavor ranging
from teaching to shipbuilding to administration and
business, marked by a strong vein of education and
service. Surely this little-known, unassuming man
would be proud.

-'' Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem. 132-143, recounts the
woes of Agent Wham.

-^ The U. S. Foreign Service, it is worth noting, moves offi-
cials from place to place frequently to minimize the risk they
may come to identify too closely with the nationals of the coun-
try to which they are assigned.

-' The author wishes to thank his informants, especially Lucy
Mills Hall, granddaughter of Ben Mills. Chester Mills, his grand-
son, and La Veta Janis Bark, his great-granddaughter, without
whose warm interest and help this story could not have been told.

3" The Black Hills Daily Times. May 16 and July 31, 1878.

3' "Stock Raising on the Plains, 1870-1871," a report by Dr.
Silas Reed, First Surveyor General of Wyoming Territory, An-
nals of Wyoming 17 (Januar)' 1945), 56.

-'- John Hunton's Diary. January 1, 1875, 32-35.

^^ Earl Gustkey, "Mills' Miracle," Los Angeles Times. October
14, 1994.

Martin Liischei, Professor of English at Califor-
nia Polytechnic State University in San Luis
Obispo, spent his early years in and around the
Black Hills. He heard his first stories from his
grandfather, a pioneer merchant in Gordon, Ne-
braska, who traded with Lakota people from the
Pine Ridge Reservation. After 30 years of teach-
ing American literature in California, he still traces
his roots to that part of the country. This is his first
venture into historical writing.

Music as artifact:
i:iie Johnson dountyi IDar

jBallads

]6a arid a. Bomning

^yff^ he Johnson County Cattle War of 1 892 was
I I one of the most bitter of the 1 9th century range
^fti^wars between settlers, who "nested" near prime
watersheds, and large landowners, who favored the
ways of the open range. The conflict is certainly a mile-
stone in the history of the region, for it marks the end
of the open range era and the establishment of the
smaller, independently owned ranches which lend the
area much of its cultural identity even today. The dis-
cord has long been a topic of local and regional histori-
cal interest and its events have been preserved in both
aural and written traditions, including several songs.
Ballads about the Johnson County War are an impor-
tant part of the folk music history of the Powder River
Basin. This article is concerned with four broadside
ballads dating from the last decade of the nineteenth
century.'

although the focus of this essay is on the Johnson
County War ballads themselves, a brief over-
view is necessary in order to understand the
historical perspective from which these songs emanate.
Readers who wish to make an in-depth study are ad-
vised to consult the many published sources document-
ing the subject, a few of which were actually written
by the participants themselves.

The Johnson County War had many causes. In some
respects, the conflict was a confrontation between
"haves" on one side and "have nots" on the other.- Sub-
stantial tracts of land were owned by large cattle com-
panies often funded by wealthy English and Scottish

investors, who functioned as absentee landlords in
Johnson County. Most of these landowners and their
ranch managers assumed that public land was avail-
able for their use. Opposing the "white caps," as the
press termed the ranch owners and their foremen, were
the so-called "rustlers," the small landowners, who
believedjust as emphatically that public land was avail-
able to them for homesteading purposes. These indi-
viduals settled in the same area and often fenced off
prime grazing land and water-holes.

Another factor was a combination of poor range man-
agement and the capriciousness of Wyoming's weather:
at a time when the range was in extremely poor condi-
tion from over-stocking and over-grazing, the disas-
trous winter of 1886-1887 intensified the competition

' C. Malcolm Laws stated: "A ballad is a narrati\e folk song
which dramatizes a memorable event." Laws. Xative American
Balladiy: A Descriptive Study and a Bibliographical Syllabus.
(Philadelphia: American Folklore Societ\. 1964). 2. The Johnson
Count) War was certain!) one of the most noteworthy events in
the hislop. of the state of W\oming. Broadside ballads are stories
in rh) me about an actual occurrence. Lhe term original!) referred
to "a single sheet: cheap!) printed and sold for a small price:
often with woodcut illustrations" Ibid.. 55, Today it is used to
mean any specific historical event commemorated in song, how-
ever transmitted. A modem ballad has also been composed about
the e\ent. Chris LeDoux's "Johnson Count) War." can be heard
on his album Powder River. (American Cowboy Songs. Inc..
1989). LeDoux's song is comprehensive in scope and well-writ-
ten, but is outside the range of this article on nineteenth-century
Johnson County War songs.

■ Mark Harvey. "A Civil War in W)oming: .\ Centennial Com-
memoration of the Johnson County War" (master's thesis, Uni-
versitv of Wvomina. 1992). 3.

Annals or Wyoming:Tne Wyoming Histon' Journal

for good pasture land. Several cattle barons, as the
owners of the large companies were also called, were
forced into bankruptcy. Further, the harsh winter and
the resulting die-off of livestock left many cowboys
unemployed. Some began to fend for themselves by
filing claims on small homesteads.-' The settlers con-
tinued to fence off even more pasture land, denying its
use to the remaining large outfits.

The maverick problem only worsened the situation.
A maverick is an unbranded calf whose mother cannot
be located, and the difficulty lay chiefly in determin-
ing ownership. Some ranchers reckoned their livestock
bv a theoretical "book count" instead of an actual tally
made on the range, a method which only worsened the
maverick problem. Because they had such vast herds,
owners of large outfits believed unmarked calves were
their property and regarded branding orphaned calves
as the equivalent of thievery. These cattlemen actively
suspected a few of their employees and some settlers
of "mavericking" to increase their herds. The ranchers
took their grievance to the territorial legislature, from
whence came the largely ineffective Maverick Law of
1884. The bill attempted to solve the problem by sim-
ply making all unbranded calves the property of the
Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA), an
organization to which a majority of the large ranch-
owners belonged."' Poor wording and unenforceability
of the Maverick Law was another underlying cause of
the Johnson County War.

Since recourse to law enforcement had failed to re-
solve the grievances of either side, the already tense
situation continued to deteriorate. The cattlemen came
to regard the settlers, some of whom had been well-
respected former employees, with the same suspicion
and contempt as common outlaws. A primary example
of the cattlemen's turnabout of esteem was Nate Cham-
pion, a cowboy who worked for the Bar C and EK
Ranches, chiefly as a wagon-boss.-^ He was once de-
scribed by several cattlemen as a top hand and a man
of trust." Although he was "never accused of rustling...
while alive," Champion was eventually black-balled
and became one of the fallen heroes of the Johnson
County War.^

As a result of these circumstances, relations between
cowboys who worked for the cattle barons and the small
ranchers were at their worst from roughly 1 887 through
1892. Like most conflicts resulting in violence and
bloodshed, participants on both sides of the Johnson
County War were firmly convinced they were right.
Incidents leading to the cattle war began in November,
1 89 1 , when Orlev "Ranger" Jones, was ambushed at

Muddy Creek, south of Buffalo. Shortly thereafter, John
A. Tisdale was shot in the back at what is now called
Tisdale Divide, also south of Buffalo. Both men were
settlers and former cowboys; both were suspected of
stealing livestock, although such allegations were never
proved. An investigation into these deaths by Johnson
County Sheriffs deputies was inadequately conducted
and the murders were never officially solved, even
though there were witnesses to the crime and an al-
leged perpetrator was identified.^

Both sides organized themselves to pursue their in-
terests more aggressively. In late October, 1 89 1 , a group
of small-scale stockmen met in Buffalo to organize the
Northern Wyoming Farmers and Stock Growers' As-
sociation to solidify their cause. ^ The large land-own-
ers had already formed the Wyoming Stock Growers
Association, which met at the exclusive Cheyenne Club
in Wyoming's capital city. There they made a decision
that some kind of action had to be taken to protect their
interests in northern Wyoming. They drew up a list of
about seventy five settlers and others whom they wished
to eradicate, hired several Texas gunfighters and formed
a small private army, led by Major Frank Wolcott, U.S.
Army, retired. On April 5, 1892, a special train left
Cheyenne headed for Casper, from where the invaders
planned to ride north to kill the men on the "daisy" list
and bum their property.''

Wyoming's governor, senator, congressmen, judges,
and, in general, district law enforcement were prob-
ably aware of the cattlemen's plans, but looked the other
way, for the actions of the vigilante army were in the
best interest of these powerful individuals who held or
controlled most of the offices in the state government
during the 1880s and '90s.

On the way, the leaders of the party. Major Wolcott
and Frank Canton, argued about the best way to carry

3 Harvey, 27.

■♦ Helena Huntington Smith, The War on Powdei- River. (Lin-
coln: University of Nebrast;a Press, 1966), 59-61.

' Combinations of letters such as Bar C, EK and others are
transliterations of brands used by ranch owners to identify own-
ership of their livestock.

<• Harvey, 88.

' Down through the years, legend has it that former Johnson
County sheriff Frank Canton, who worked as a stock detective
for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and as a trusted
foreman for one of the big cattle companies, was the gunman
who ambushed Tisdale and Jones in a draw south of Buffalo;
however, no charges were ever formally filed. Robert K.
DeArment, Alias Frank Canton. (Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 1996).

" Harvey, 39.

"Smith, 188.

W'inter 1QQ8

out their mission. The original plan called for a direct all places. Cheyenne, from where the invasion had origi-

attack on Buffalo, but. when the party stopped to rest
at the TTT Ranch, south of present-day Kaycee, word
reached Major Wolcott that many of the alleged rus-
tlers were spending the winter at the nearby KC Ranch.
Against Canton's advice, Wolcott ordered the army to
make a detour in order to kill the supposed gang of
cattle thieves. At dawn on April 9, the invaders attacked
the cabin where only two men, Nate Champion and
Nick Ray, had been spending the winter months. Cham-
pion and Ray were killed and the cabin was set on tire.
At the height of the fracas, a settler by the name of
Jack Flagg and his step-son Alonzo Ta\ lor happened
to dri\ e b\ in a bugg\'. Shots were tired at them, where-
upon they cut their team loose and rode to Buffalo, to

nally been planned. The in\aders and the mercenary
gun-tlghters were released on their own recognizance,
and later, on Januar\ 21,1 893. the case was dismissed.

The Johnson County War BulUhls

lements were present in the contlict which lend
themseh es perfectly to folk baliadrv : intrigue,
underhandedness, murder, and no small
amount of heroism. These same conditions are present
in other well-known American ballads such as "Sam
Bass." "Messe .lames" and ""Prettx Bo\ Floyd." Four
nineteenth-century ballads about the .Johnson County
Cattle War are extant, two of which remain in the rep-
warn the citizenr>' and local officials of the impending ertories of a very small number of singers. The only
confrontation. existing tune may or may not be the one which was

Buffalo had already become polarized because of the used during the 1 890s, while tunes for the other songs
events of the preceding winter, but after Flagg's warn- have been lost. All four texts are concerned with de-
ing, the town became a hornet's nest of cowboys, set- scribing the trials and heroism of a few men, presum-
tlers and townsfolk. Several citizens armed themselves ably for the purpose of swaying or reinforcing public
and rode to the Covington Ranch, a few miles south- sentiment toward the settlers. Even their enemies ac-
east of town.'" From there they besieged the invaders knowledged that protagonists such as Nick Ray and
who had taken refuge in the house and outbuildings at Nate Champion were bra\ e men. Such heroism is the
the neighboring TA Ranch. On April 12, Governor stuff of which legends are made; unsurprisingly, not
Amos W. Barber, who was tlrmly on the side of the long after the uprising, ballads were composed to honor
invaders, wired United States President Benjamin their memory. The songs are narrated from the point of
Harrison requesting Federal troops to quell an "insur- view of the settlers; unfortunateK none exist from the
rection" existing in
Johnson County." The
cavalry, posted at Fort
McKinney, west of Buf-
falo, rode to the TA
Ranch. Major Wolcott
grudginglv' surrendered on
April 13 and the
townsfolk agreed to dis-
continue the siege.

The cattlemen and their
retinue were held for a
time at Fort McKinney,
then were moved to Fort
Fetterman and, finally, to
Fort Russell in Cheyenne.
Officials believed it would
have been impossible to
get a fair trial anywhere in
northern Wyoming. At a
preliminary hearing in
Laramie, a change of
venue was approved to, of

The Johnson County War Songs

1. "The Ballad of Nate Champion"

Anonymous, early 1890s. Variants found in:
01i\e Wooley Burt, American Murder Balkuls.
1958. 175-177 (text & tune).
"Blood Stained Book," tape recording, sung b\
Daniel L. De\ oe; Johnson County Public Library
Music Files.

2. "The Invasion Song"

.Anonymous, early 1890s. Variants found in:
Olive Wooley Burt, American Murder Ballads.
1958, 172-174 (text only).
Tape recording, sung by Daniel L. De\oe;
Johnson County Public Library Music Files.

3. "The Murder of Tisdale and Jones"

Patrick Bums, 1892; Johnson County Public
Library Music Files (text only).

4. "Our Heroes' Grave"

.Anonymous, early 1 890s; Johnson County Pub-
lic Library Music Files; also in the American
Heritage Center Archives, University of Wyo-
ming, Laramie (text only).

cattlemen's perspective.

" .A prominent merchant.
Robert B. Foote. who was an eld-
erl> Scotsman, "mounted his
celebrated black horse, and u ith
his long white beard tl>ing to the
breeze, dashed up and down the
streets calling the citizens to
arms . to protect all that \ou
hold dear against this approach-
ing foe." .Asa Shinn Mercer, Tlie
Banditti of tlie Plains. (Norman:
Liniversit_\ of Oklahoma Press.
1Q54), 83-85. .According to less
impassioned reports in the local
press, the old man rode up and
down roaring. "Come out, _\ou
so-and-sos, and take sides."
Smith. 214.
" Smith. 183.

Annals of Wyoniing:The Wyoming History Journal

"The Ballad of Nate Champion '

alcolm Laws emphasizes that "American bal-
lads leave relatively little to the imagination.
They are explicit and detailed, often tiresomely
so."'- One Johnson County War ballad, "The Ballad
of Nate Champion," also known as "The Ballad of Nick
and Nate," "The Little Black Book," "The Linle Blood-
Stained Diary" and "The Blood-Stained Book," is cer-
tainly a case in point, for it is a detailed summary, leav-
ing virtually nothing to conjecture, of an event which
was probably the turning point of the entire conflict.

The anonymous text describes the chain of events in
Champion's diary. The attitude of the author is resigned
and somewhat restrained, considering the highly
charged emotional events about which he is writing.
The opening verse serves as an introduction to the song;
it presumes the fisteners or readers are familiar with
the events described therein. The last verse has a de-
cidedly funereal cast. Descriptions of a deceased per-
son going to heaven using constructs such as the Big
Divide and the Home Ranch are typical of cowboy
poetry and often symbolize a "reward for loneliness
and isolation felt by cowboys."'^

Complete variants (e.g., with both text and tune) of
the folk song are found in only two modem sources:
01i\e Wooley Burt's hook, American Murder Ballads
and on an audio cassette made b\' former Kaycee area
resident Daniel L. "Lonnie" Devoe, which is now in
the collection of the Johnson County Public Library.'"*
The texts are similar, but the two tunes are very differ-
ent.

A possible source for much of the description found
in the ballad is a newspaper article which appeared in
The Chicago Herald. It was written by a journalist
named Samuel Travers Clover, who was one of two
reporters the cattlemen invited to accompany them. His
assignment was to cover the events, ostensibly from
the cattlemen's point of view, and report back to Chi-
cago by telegraph.

At the conclusion of the gunfight at the KC Ranch
cabin, Frank Canton discovered a small notebook un-
der Champion's body. He and the other leaders of the
company read it, after which Major Wolcott gave it to
Clover, who then published its contents, a record of
the last hours of Champion's life. When Clover saw
that the in\ aders, surrounded at the TA Ranch by an-
gr\' Johnson County citizens, would have to fight for
their lives, he recogiiized his chance to file a sensa-
tional story. He slipped through the lines into the pro-
tective custody of the United States Army. A few days

Nate Champion

later, again under Army escort, he made his way to
Douglas, Wyoming, from where he filed his story. '^
Champion's manuscript, as printed in Clover's article,
was in a rather terse prose style, but follows the same
narrative line as the text of "The Ballad of Nate Cham-
pion," which is, of course, rhymed. (See page 18). A
few weeks after the incident Clover evidently lent the
diary to a colleague, Henry A. Blair, for the former
acknowledged "the return of Champion's diary pages"
and added "I shall keep them for as long as I live." The
diary has not been seen since.'"

Olive Wooley Burt stated that he collected the text
for "The Ballad of Nate Champion" from Leiand WTiite

i; Laws, 9.

'-' Austin E. Fife and .Alta S. Fife, Heaven on Horseback: Re-
vivalist Songs and Verse in Cowboy Idiom. (Logan: Utah State
Universitj' Press, 1970), 3.

'•• Olive Wooley Burt, American Murder Ballads (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1958), 175.

'- In addition to the diary, a hand-lettered sign reading "Cattle
thieves, beware" was also found on Champion's body. Astonish-
ingly, Smith mentions that "The Chicago reporter did not choose
to tell the whole story. It was Clover himself who wrote the sign
and buttoned it on the dead man's vesf Smith, 208.

'* Smith, 208. Over the years, some controversy has arisen about
whether Clover really published the substance of the diary which
Canton found or was merely indulging in sensationalistic jour-
nalism. Harvey noted: "If the diary had been made up by Sam
Clover. . . it [is] hard to imagine that Clover, a city-slicker, could
have made up a diary that sounded ... like it was written by a
[former] Texas cowboy. Comparing the diary with Champion's
oral testimony [at a trial] just a few months before, one has to
come to the conclusion that Champion wrote it" Harvey, 100-
101. One is probably justified in assuming that the text of Clover's
article is closely representative of the actual words Champion
wrote in his diary under such harrowing circumstances.

^"inter IQQS

and Archie and Obed Gamer, who lived in Afton,
Wyoming.'^ The same text is also found in Powder
River. Let 'Er Buck, by Stnithers Burt. The latter stated.
"For a while along the Powder the following ballad
was popular. No one seems to have the vaguest idea
who wrote it or how the tune went. It is a transcription,
as it says, a condensed one, of the hour-by-hour diary
Nate Champion kept.""'*'

The song as given in Olive Burt is shown on the pre-
ceding page. The tune consists of four phrases to match
the quatrain structure of each half-stanza. It is in the
mi.xolydian mode, common to many folk tunes. The
melody has a range of one octave and its contour re-
flects a typical Anglo-American "rainbow" curve, the
top of the arch occurring mid-way through the third
phrase (measure 1 1 ). Like many folk tunes, the chords
are simple and fundamental to the scale. The song is in
waltz time, which was quite common in popular music
of the day, and the rhythmic patterns accommodate the
predominant!} iambic meter of the text, again typical
of many folk ballads.

Some of former Kaycee area resident Daniel L.
Devoe"s ancestors were involved in the Johnson County
War, even though his father, Clark Devoe, did not move
to the region until 1906, well after the end of the con-
flict. Hank De\oe, Daniel's great-uncle, was the fore-
man of the Bar C ranch; a well-known photograph
shows him with the roundup crew of 1884.''' County
records show that another great-uncle, C. M. De\oe,
was on the Johnson County Commission at the time of
the affray.-"

Daniel L. Devoe is a self-taught guitar player who
still plays "every once in a while. .. for my own enjoy-
ment, for fun.""-'

DD: A friend of mine showed me a few chords, but I

just taught myself

AD: How old were you when you learned to play?

DD: Oh, I was fourteen when I got my first guitar,

but then I was about twenty when I really learned how.

AD: Do you play by ear or read from sheet music?

DD: I play by ear. I don't read music at all.

AD: Did you e\er play in a band?

DD: No, 1 never did. I just played by myself --

In Febmary, 1 985, he made two cassette tapes of folk
and popular songs as a birthday present for his sister,
Maggie Fimekas. The tapes contain a great variety of
folk, popular, country, cowboy-western and religious
music.-^ Devoe also included two Johnson County War
songs, "Blood Stained Book" and "The Invasion Song.""

Devoe"s tune, "Blood Stained Book,"" is in a major
key and makes two arches of unequal length rather than

one symmetrical "rainbow" curve as found in Olive
WooIIey Burt's variant. The first peaks in measure 3.
while the second arch arrives at a high point in mea-
sure 6 (see following page). In a manner typical of many
folk singers, Devoe sustains the long notes of the tune
irregularly, making the music subser\ lent to the text
and creating an uneven metrical structure. De\oe per-
forms in a manner similar to that of folk singer Wood\
Guthrie, who also used flexible meters and irregular
chord changes.

The textual changes Devoe makes do not generalK
alter the meaning of the stor\ . Rather, they seem to
reflect the way in which he learned and then reshaped
the song. Some of the modifications produce contrast-
ing poetic meters, by throwing the text out of the iam-
bic foot and into dactylic or vice versa. In the fourth
verse Devoe substitutes the word "nearU" for "now
about,"" which is easier to sing and fits more neatly into
the predominant iambic meter. At other times, he has
evident!} substituted one w ord for another w hich per-
haps made more sense to him, as in the se\ enth verse
where he has changed "splitting"" to "splintering.""

'" O. Burt. 175-177.

'* Struthers Burt, Powder River Let 'Er Buck. (New N'ork;
Rinehart and Co., 1'538). 2''7-2')''. The song te.\t also exists as a
typescript cop_\, located in the Music Files at the Johnson County
Public Library in ButYalo. \\\oming. The unknown typist states
that he has copied it from Struthers Burt. The same person has
added the following anecdote, which is not found in Burt's book:
"Concerning the nerve of Nate Champion, this story [was] told to
Gray Nerval by Al Smith: Al was spending the night in a cabin
with Nate. Someone tried to break in the door. Nate raised him-
self up, took a shot at the door, then put his gun under his pillow
and went back to sleep. The next morning spots of blood v\ere
seen on the path outside the door."

'^ Harvey, 77.

-" Charles VI. De\oe was listed as a count\- commissioner in a
public legal notice printed in Tlie Buffalo Bulletm in .April, 18*52.
Amos W. Barber Scrapbook, n.d., 347. Wyoming Stockgrowers
Collection, Box 286, American Heritage Center. His descendant
Daniel L. Devoe also mentioned that his great-uncle "Charles. . .
was marshal in Buffalo for quite a long time in the late 1800s."
D. L. Devoe letter to author, 13 November I '506. Which side of
the conflict Charles supported is unknown. Helena Huntington
Smith described him as an "esteemed early settler and former
roundup foreman," and mentioned that he was an acquaintance
of Frank Canton, but her statements do not imply that C. M.
Devoe's sympathies were necessarily on the side of the in\aders.
Smith, 171.

-' Devoe, inter\iew by author. 21 September 1QQ6.

"^ Ibid.

-' Copies of both cassette tapes are located in the Johnson
County Public Library music tiles and in the .American Music
Research Center Archive, Ariel Downing Collection, College of
Music, Universitv of Colorado at Boulder.

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Nate Champion's Diary'

■'Me and Nick was getting breakfast when the attack took place. Two men here with us — Bill Jones and another man. The
old man went after water and did not come back. His friend went to see what was the matter and he did not come back. Nick
started out, and 1 told him to look out, that 1 thought there was some one at the stable who would not let them come back...
Nick is shot, but not dead yet. He is awful sick... I must go and wait on him... It is now about two hours since the first shot.
Nick is still alive. They are shooting and are all around the house. Boys, there is bullets coming in like hail. Them fellows
is in such shape I can't get at them. They are shooting from the stable and river and back of the house.

Nick is dead. He died about nine o'clock. I see a smoke down at the stable. 1 think they have fired it. I don't think they
intend to let me get away this time.

It is now about noon. There is some one at the stable yet; they are throwing a rope out at the door and dragging it back. I
guess it is to draw me out. I wish that duck would get further so I can get a shot at him... Boys, I feel pretty lonesome just
now. I wish there was some one here with me so we could watch all sides at once... They may fool around until I get a good
shot before they leave.

It's about three o'clock now. There was a man in a buckboard and one on horseback just passed. They fired on them as
they went by. I don't know if they killed them or not... I seen lots of men come out on horses on the other side of the river
and take after them.. .1 shot at the men in the stable just now; don't know if I got any or not...

1 must go and look out again. It don't look as if there is much show of my getting away. I see twelve or fifteen men. One
looks like (name was scratched out). I don't know whether it is or not. I hope they didn't catch them fellows that run over the
bridge toward Smith's... They are coming back. I've got to look out.

Well, they have just got through shelling the house again like hail. I heard them splitting wood. I guess they are going to
fire the house to-night. I think I will make a break when night comes if I live . . Shooting again. I think they will fire the
house this time. It is not night yet... The house is all fired. Good-by, boys, if I never see you again." [signed] Nathan D.
Champion

*From Samuel Clover, On Special Assignment: Being the Futher Adventures of Paul Travers, Newspaper Reporter. (New
York: Argonaut Press. 1965). 258-259. The book is a partly fictionalized account of Clover's own adventures as a newspa-
per correspondent, in which he portrays himself as Paul Travers. Clover used ellipsis markings to indicate the passage of
time rather than as editorial deletions. He stated. "The outlcrw had deliberately jotted down in the memorandum-book the
passing scenes of the last hours of his life... " Clover, 257.

The Ballad of Nate Champion

Anonymous

[Cl

^ j'j J I ^ J I ^ ^ I J J-jl ^

It's just a lit - tie blood-stained book. Which a bul - let has

[G]

[C]

[F]

torn in two;.

It tells the fate of Nick and

[C]

[G7]

[C]

IZZI

« 0-

Nate, Which is known to alL

of you.'

From Olive Wooley Burt, American Murder Ballads (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1958),
1 75. [Guitar chords added by Ariel Downing].

Winter 1998 19

The Ballad of Nate Champion

It was a little blood-stained book which a bullet had torn in twain.
It told the fate of Nick and Nate, which is known to all of you;

He had the nerve to write if down while the bullets fell like rain,
At your request, I'll do my best to read those lines again.

'Two men stayed with us here last night. Bill |ones and another man.
Went to the river, took a pail, will come back if they can;

1 told old Nick not to look out, there might be someone near.
He opened the door; shot to the floor, he'll never live, I fear.

Two hours since the shots began, the bullets thick as hail!
Must wait on Nick, he's awful sick, he's still alive but pale;

At stable, river, and back of me, men are sending lead,
I cannot get a shot to hit, it's nine, and Nick is dead.

Down at the stable 1 see a smoke, I guess they'll bum the hay.
From what I've seen they do not mean for me to get away;

It's now about noon, I see a rope thrown in and out the door,
I wish that duck would show his pluck, he'd use a gun no more.

1 don't know what has become of the boys that stayed with us last night.
Just two or more boys with me and we would guard the cabin right;

I'm lonesome, boys, if s two o'clock, two men just come in view.
And riding fast, as they went past, were shot at by the crew.

1 shot a man down in the bam, don't know if I hit or not.
Must look again, 1 see someone, it looks like . . . there's a blot;

1 hope they did not get those men that across the bridge did run.
If I had a pair of glasses here, 1 think I'd know someone.

They're just through shelling the house, I hear the splitting wood,
I guess they'll light the house tonight, and bum me out for good;

I'll have to leave when night comes on, they'll bum me if I stay,
1 guess I'll make a running break and try to get away.

They've shot another volley in, but to bum me is their game.
And as I write, if s not yet night, and the house is all aflame;

So good-bye, boys, if I get shot, I got to make a mn.
So on on this leaf, I'll sign my name, Nathan D. Champion."

The light is out, the curtain drawn, the last sad act is played.
You know the fate that met poor Nate, and of the run he made;

And now across the Big Divide, and at the Home Ranch door,
I know he'll meet and warmly greet the boys that went before.

Olive Wooley Burt, American Murder Ballads. London and New York: Oxford University
Press, 1958, 175-177.

Annals of Wyoming:Tne Wyoming History Journal

Blood Stained Book

MM J = 102

Anonymous
As sung by Daniel L. Devoe

(4)

G (1) (2) (3) C) _

la) It's ]ust a lit- tiebiood-stained book, which a bul-lethadtorn in

lb) Ho had the nerveto write it down, while the buj- lets fell like

(5)

Dl!l

(6)

i .:■> J'J JiiiJvj^

two; It tells the fate Of Nick and

rain; At your re - quest, I'll do my

» — » »■

Nate, which is known to all of

(7)

you.

(1) Ossifl

n n ii \'i

-i—i

best to re- peat those lines a

gain.

(2) 4/4 in some verses.

(3) Time signature ranges from 4/4 through 7/4 in various verses.

(4) The Uvo sixteenth notes g' are sung as one eighth note g' in

the second half of each verse.

(5) Time signature ranges from 4/4 through 6/4 in various verses.

(6) The D major chord should occur here. The first eighth note d'

sung as an eighth note e' in some verses.

(7) The two sixteenth notes d' are occasionally sung as one eighth

note.

'The Invasion Song"

^y^^ he Invasion Song" is the only Johnson County
1 1 War song that is mentioned in G. Malcolm
^ma^ Laws' classic compendium of American folk
ballads. Native American Balladry: A Descriptive Study
and A Bibliographical Syllabus. It apparently never
achieved great popularity, since Laws listed it in Ap-
pendix 11: Native Ballads of Doubtful Currency in Tra-
dition: "Songs of lesser influence and those which are
extinct from the oral tradition."-"* Curiously, he classi-
fies it as a cowboy song rather than a murder ballad.
Laws states that he found the song text in Olive Wooley
Burt's American Murder Ballads, and that it is a "bal-
lad printed only once, with little indication of where,
when or from whom the singer learned [it]."^^

The text and a tune are extant on an audio cassette
made by Devoe, who sang both "The Invasion Song"
and "Blood Stained Book" to the same tune. Such tune
grafting is an excellent example of the dynamic folk
music process.X)evoe first learned the former song from

his father, Clark Devoe, then learned "Blood Stained
Book" many years later when he purchased a copy of
Burt's American Murder Ballads in a Portland, Oregon,
bookstore.

AD : Did those songs catch your eye because you grew

up in that same area? [Southern Johnson County.]

DD: That's right. Well, my dad used to sing "The

Invasion Song" when I was growing up. He knew that

song.

AD: Is that where you learned the tune, from him?

DD: Yes, that's right.

AD: Did you learn the guitar chords from him also?

DD: No, Dad didn't play an instrument. He sang a

cappello [sic], you might say. He just sang the song.

AD: Did he know the other one? ["Blood Stained

Book"!

-^ Laws, 260.
-^Ibid., 257.

Winter 1Q98

DD: No, I learned it from the book.

AD: Did you use tlie music [given] there?
DD: No, I can't read a note of music. So I just used
the same tune, so I'd have something to sing it to. h's
the same tune Dad sang it to.-^

"The Invasion Song" must have still been sung in
southern Johnson County during the first few decades
of the twentieth century, although Devoe reinarked that
he did not know where his father learned the song.

DD: [Hank and C. M. Devoe] came (to the Kaycee
area] some time before Dad did.
AD: Did they know "The Invasion Song"?
DD: Well, I ne\er did hear them sing it, but I don't
know if they did or not. Dad had to ieam it from some-
where.-'

Champion and Ray were killed. Mark E. Harvey de-
scribed Frank Canton (.loe Homer) as "one of those
enigmas of the Old West who lived a dual life of out-
law and lawinan — the same vein of mankind which
produced ... Tom Horn and Wyatt Earp."-** Canton had
a long arrest record in Texas for murder, bank robbery
and, ironically, cattle thievery, and had moved to Wyo-
ming to begin a new life.-'' Canton himself wrote a fas-
cinating account of the cattle war in his autobiography,
one of the few documents which tells the storv from

-'' Devoe Interview. 21 September \'^96.

-'' Devoe Interview.

28 Harvey, 93.

-'' For a recent biography ofCanton, see Robert K. DeArment,
Alias Frank Canton. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
19Q6).

The song presents a
broader picture of the events
than "The Ballad of Nate
Champion," and the text is
considerably more emotion-
ally charged. In fact, "The
Invasion Song" seems as if
it might have been princi-
pally intended to influence
public sentiment, rather than
to describe events and indi-
viduals.

The anonymous author
leaves absolutely no doubt
as to his sympathy for the
settlers' cause. He not only
related that Nate Champion
was dead, he gives a graphic
description of the corpse in
the third verse. Additionally,
he called the cattlemen a
"murderous crew" and the
hired gunmen from Texas "a
gang of hired assassins."
Language of this sort is sel-
dom used by an impartial
outside observer who is
inerely telling the story of an
event.

Frank Canton is men-
tioned by name in "The In-
vasion Song" as the man
who led the siege at the KC
Ranch cabin, in which

The Invasion Song

Sad and dismal is the tale I now relate to you, "Tis all about the cattlemen, them and
their murderous crew.

They started out on their inanhunt, precious blood to spill. With a gang of hired assas-
sins, to murder at their will.

God bless poor Nate and Ntck, who gave their precious lives. To save the town of
Buffalo, its brave men and their wives.

If it hadn't been for Nate and Nick. v\hat would we ha\e come to'!* We wcuild ha\e
been murdered by Frank Canton and his crew.

Poor Nate Champion is no more, he lost his precious life. He lies down in the \alle\.
freed frotn all care and strife.

He tried to run the gauntlet, when they had burned his home, .A.nd Nick was lying
lifeless, lips wet with bloody foam.

The run was made; his doom was sealed, a fact you all know well. TIicn left his
lifeless body there, on the slope above the dell.

No kindred near to care for hitn, to grasp his nerveless hand; A bra\'er man was nc\ er
faced, by Canton's bloody band.

The \ ery next name upon the list, was that of brave Jack Flagg. Frank Canton must

ha\ e surely thought. That he would 'fill his bag'.

Jack and his stepson came in view, a-riding 'round the cur\'e; "Throw up your hands!

By God, they're oftT'

Frank Canton lost his nerve

'Red Angus' next, the 'canny Scot,' was marked forCanton's lead. But .Angus, warned

by bold Jack Flagg, for aid and succor sped.

The countryside now swamied to life, the settlers amied in haste;

Soon 'Red' had hundreds at his back, who Cantons minions faced.

To Crazy Woinan's winding bank, the cowed invaders fled. With KayCee blazing in

their rear, and Ray and Champion dead.

Here, held at bay, the cravens halt, 'till soldiers caine to aid; And now, secure in Jail

they rest, the debt of blood unpaid. olive Wooley Burt. Amenca,, Murder Ballads London

and New York: Oxford LIniversitN Press. 1^58. 172-174.

Annals ot Wyoming:The Wyoming Histor)' Journal

the cattlemen's point of view. ^'^ Canton mentions the
expiration of Champion, Ray and others but does not
claim to have played a role in the deaths which he was
alleged to have caused.

Olive Wooley Burt learned of "The Invasion Song"
from the same sources as "The Ballad of Nate Cham-
pion." The tune to the former song may not have been
known to Burt's informants, since the author does not
provide a melody.-'' His informants provided two in-
teresting bits of evidence concerning the song: it was
"composed at the conclusion of the trouble in 1892";
and "the verses had been 'made up' by a drunken cow-
puncher and set to music by a woman of Buffalo, Wyo-
ming."^- The text may well have been written soon
after the surrender of the cattlemen and their mercenar-
ies to the United States Army. The citizens of Johnson
County were up in arms at the cessation of the hostili-
ties and public sentiment was clearly divided. If the
anonymous author wished to convey his opinion to as
many of the townsfolk as possible, the verse might well
have been set to a familiar tune by the unknown woman
from Buffalo, to be quickly learned by interested par-
ties who were in agreement with the senti-
ments expressed in the text.

3" Frank M. Canton, Frontier Trails: The Autobiographv of
Frank M. Canton. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), 74-106. An-
other is John Clay's My Life on The Range. (1924, 1962). Clay
was a businessman from Scotland who came to Wyoming in the
early 1 880s. He was not directly involved in the range war, but
held high office in the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, and
was privy to all the policies and decisions which were central to
the conflict.

^1 Burt, 172-174.

^- Ibid., 173. In an interview with a Billings Gazette reporter,
78-year-old Kaycee resident T. D. "Bunny" Taylor said he re-
membered "a couple of songs that folks used to sing [about the
Johnson County War]. One, 'Little Black Book,' was about Nate
Champion's diary.. . [[and] the other was 'The Invasion Song.' It
came later than 'Little Black Book.' They were about the only
songs we heard when we were kids." Taylor also conceded that
he did not "know much about the events of the war" (quoted in
Blair 1992, El). His statement about the historical placement of
"The Invasion Song" is based on hearsay. Taylor interview, 30
June 1992. Olive W. Burt gives no information about the back-
ground of his informants, making their remarks equally difficult
to document. We probably will never know the actual time of
composition for any of the nineteenth-century Johnson County
War songs.

"Smith, 142.

^Ubid., 141.

"The Murder ofTisdale and Jones"

another Johnson County War song
is titled "The Murder of Tisdale
and Jones," and is extant as a
manuscript written on a piece of ruled note-
book paper, from which an unknown per-
son has made a typewritten copy; both are
located in the Johnson County Public Li-
brary Music Files.

A remark added at the bottom of page
two of the manuscript has also been pre-
served on the typescript: "Written and
composed by musician Patrick Bums, 8th
Infantry, Fort McKinney, Wyoming." The
soldiers of the 8th Infantry were apparently
well-received in Buffalo, and its "distin-
guished band, under the skilled leadership
of Professor Carlsen" played for many
balls and parties held at the post, to which
the townspeople were also invited. ^^ Such
good rapport between the Army post and
the town led to an "emphatic if unofficial
sympathy with Johnson County, from the
commanding officer on down, when the
invasion took place. "^"*

The Murder ofTisdale and Jones

(A song to the air of "Poor Old Dad")

One night as I sat leisurely by my fireside so bright,

I picked up The Buffalo Bulletin which just fell 'cross my sight.

Of many things I read about, they were different but were true.

While gazing on the columns as I read The Bulletin through,

I read where the supposed rustlers could get no work at all;

The rich men tried to down them, yes, and shove them to the wall;

There is many an honest cowboy that would be glad for work to do.

I said, "God, help the poor man," as I read The Bulletin through.

I next read of the murders of John Tisdale and Jones,

Pierced in the back by bullets while returning to their homes.

They were shot out on the prairie and made the dust to bite.

For afraid the cruel assassin was to meet them in a fight.

Now if Freeman knows the murderer, why don't he come to the front?

And the people down in Buffalo will go out on a hunt.

Their hands may have been bloody to manhood from their youth.

It stood for the law to sentence them when they had learned the truth.

Now Tisdale's wife is living yet and battling on through life.
"Who is there to protect her, keep her from care and strife?
When she reached her husband dead, it broke her heart in two.
I cried aloud, "It is a shame," as I read The Bulletin through.
Jones' true love, broken hearted, her grief she could not bide.
When she found that her lover had out on the prairie died.
God pity that young lady, whoever she may be.
She is mourning her young life away while the murderer goes free.

^"inter lOOS

Patrick Bums was also stationed with the cavalry
troops at Fort McKinney. As an infantr\man, he was
probably not directly involved in the surrender and
transport of the in\ aders. but he surely was aware of
the activities of his fellow soldiers on the Army post.
The sympathies of the author of "The Murder of Tisdale
and Jones" were clearly on the side of the townsfolk
and small ranchers, and the song is a commentary on
the aftennath of the insurrection rather than a descrip-
tion of it. The text is more restrained than "The Inva-
sion Song"; Bums" poetry is not nearly as emotionally
charged, > et he is genuinely upset about the recent tum
of events and feels sorr\ for the men who died and for
their survivors.

The meter and rhyme of the Bums" poem are highly
irregular. The author seems to have almost no aware-
ness of meter and the rh\ me scheme is uneven as well.
The poem is shown abo\e exacth as found in the
Johnson County Public Librar\ manuscript. The first
verse contains nine lines, w ith a rhyme scheme of A A,
BB, CC, DD. E. The first line of the second verse
rhymes w ith the last line of the tlrst, producing a seven-
line rhyme scheme of E, FF, GG. HH. The third verse
has eight lines, all of which are rh_\ med as regular cou-
plets. Perhaps the author was more interested in the
poem's sentiment than in its finesse. The tune suggested
in the manuscript is "Poor Old Dad,"" w hich may have
also been known as "Dear Old Dad."" The text scansion
and rhyme scheme do not fit "Great Grand-Dad"' or its
man\ \ ariants.

"Our Htn-oes ' Grave "

^^•^ he last, and perhaps most enigmatic, of the
■ I nineteenth-century songs about the Johnson
%&!• Count) War is "Our Heroes" Grave."" The
song was printed in The fVyoniIno Derrick. Ma\' 12,
1892, exactly one month after the siege at the T.A.
Ranch. -'-"^ A manuscript copy, written in the hand of the
same person who copied "The Murder of Tisdale and
Jones" is located at the Johnson County Public Library.
Both the new spaper article and the manuscript indicate
that the song was written by Charles Story and "set to
music and sung at the indignation meeting at Banner." '*'
No further mention of music for this text other than the
reference to the meeting at Banner has been discov-
ered. Neither the newspaper nor the manuscript give
any information about the tune to which it was sung.
The poetr\ is certainly more sophisticated than that
of "The Murder of Tisdale and Jones." The iambic
tetrameter of the text flow s quite smoothh and the cou-

plets rhyme in a regular order. Although it is written
w ith an elaborate style of expression common to the
nineteenth-century, the overall feeling-tone of the text
is somewhat reserved, especially when compared to
"The Invasion Song." The somber text depicts the event
in general terms, rather than focusing on any one as-
pect of it. The first tv\o stanzas portray Nate Champion's
final hours, while the last \ erse expresses the emotions
of people at his funeral.

The poem is meant to be a xehicle of persuasion;
sentiment is used to make the readers s\mpathize w ith
the braver) of the hero and the sorrow of the townsfolk
who buried him. VirtualK the entire town of Buffalo
attended joint services for Champion and Nick Ray.
held on April 15. 1892.'^ Like "The Murder of Tisdale
and Jones," "Our Heroes' Grave"" is not in the current

'^ The Wyoming Derrick was a Casper newspaper published
from .lune 21, 1890 through March 2, 1906. How the poem got
from Johnson County (or perhaps Sheridan Count\ ) to Casper,
which is about 1 15 highway miles south of Buffalo, is uncertain.
The article has been preserved in another source as well, for Gov-
ernor Amos W. Barber clipped it and pasted it into his scrapbook
Barber Scrapbook, 347.

-'^ Barber. 347.

-'' Smith. 23(1

Our Heroes' Grave

It was on the Powder's Middle branch,

Nate met his death at the KC Ranch;

No quarter he asked, none would the\' give.

No show on earth had he to li\e.

He fought them through long hours of pain;

He fought alone, his coinrade slain.

His heart was oak and his nerves were steeled.

God, could this hero's doom he sealed?

In his cabin he lay in slumbers sound;

Outside the demons lurked around.

No warning had he of outside foe.

"Till a bullet laid his comrade low.

His ritle he grasped and fought all day.

For many long hours he'd held them at bay.

When the torch was applied his cheek grew pale,

.■\nd he met his death from their leaden hail.

With \oices hushed and hearts turned weak.

Oft tears were seen on the browned cheek.

The quiver plays on the lips of pride.

When we think of the death that poor Nate died.

The w omen w ith flowers his casket dressed,

.And followed in tears to his place of rest.

Then ga\e him thus as a body of the bra\e.

Then lowered him down to a hero's era\e.

Annals oi Wyoming;Tne Wyoming History ]c

repertory of any of the informants in this oral history
project.

One might speculate that the reference to "the indig-
nation meeting at Banner" could mean that a gathering
was held at Banner, Wyoming, which is a village situ-
ated at the east end of a spur of the Big Horn moun-
tains known as Moncreiffe Ridge, about halfway be-
tween Buffalo and Sheridan. Banner is located just in-
side Sheridan County and perhaps the settlers did not
wish to meet within the confines of Johnson County
since the invaders, although incarcerated, were still
uncomfortably near.-'*^ Perhaps people living in the
Banner community were angry enough to have spon-
sored such a meeting. No such assemblies are specifi-
cally mentioned by various writers about the insurrec-
tion excepting Helena Huntington Smith, who alludes
to indignation meetings in The War on Powder River.
She mentions such community gatherings as part of
her discussion of why the invaders and their hired gun-
men were never fully prosecuted;

Wyoming was too exhausted and too sick of the
whole business to care. Its sense of outrage over the
invasion had spent itself over the past nine months, as
one community after another had held meetings and
passed resolutions condemning the invaders; it had
gradually adjusted itself to the knowledge that they
would ne\er pay for their crime.-'''

lich side "won" the conflict? Most historians
I agree that neither side conclusively won the
v\'ar. Likewise, one could say that neither side
truly lost. The settlers thwarted the immediate objec-
tive of the cattle barons to destroy them and seize their
property. The invaders were protected by the United
States Army from the wrath of the settlers and from
their own alleged violations of the law by the Wyo-
ming state judicial system.

The citizens of Johnson County wrote songs which
were intended to stir up public sentiment, to express
anger and outrage and to mourn fallen heroes. The set-
tlers had clearly won an emotional victory, for all of
the ballads from this conflict commemorate their side.
The so-called cattle barons truly believed they were
fighting for a just cause. Why have no songs survived,
if any were ever written, which present their side of the
story? The invaders and their forces were lucky to get
out of northeastern Wyoming without being shot or
lynched. They plainly had no themes of heroism and
sacrifice to celebrate in song.

The Johnson County War ballads are important to
local amateur singers and their audiences alike. These
songs have a nostalgic, sentimental appeal, for they

are about historical or imaginary events from the sing-
ers' own culture, and thus impart a sense of place in
one's community. The songs are also an element of
some informants' family traditions. They have been
handed down as valuable cultural artifacts from one
generation to another, perhaps in a slightly altered form,
but preserved nonetheless. For instance, Daniel L.
Devoe learned "The Invasion Song" from his father
who presumably heard it from an uncle who actually
participated in the Johnson County War. Now that these
songs have been brought to light again, perhaps they,
like other relics of the Johnson County War, can be
preserved for future generations.

-'* Undertaking such a journey to Banner is not an impossibil-
ity, even in liorse-and-buggy days. Banner is located about eigh-
teen miles from Buffalo, so persons mounted on fresh horses could
have ridden the distance in (conservatively) four to si.x hours,
less than a full day's ride. At the height of the hostilities, "a young
Methodist a preacher named Marvin A. Rader [who] was in sym-
pathy with the people of Johnson County... rode in from Big Hom
[a distance of approximately twenty-five miles] to help inspire
and organize them to resist attack." Smith, 216. Smith also notes
that Rader was one of two ministers who presided at the funeral
of Nate Champion and Nick Ray. Ibid, 230. One can ride a horse
at a walking gait at about three miles per hour; at a faster gait,
such as a lope or canter, a horse and rider can go about five or six
miles per hour. Driving a team is somewhat slower, generally
about three miles an hour, although buggies can often travel faster
than heavier wagons. Thanks to Marie P. Tibbets of Sheridan,
Wyoming, who frequently employed such means of travel as a
young woman, for information about journeying by horse and
buggy. Tibbets, telephone interview by author, 30 May 1995.

-''' Smith, 282.

A Sheridan resident. Ariel Downing completed her
Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Colorado at
Boulder in 1997. She holds a Bachelor of Music de-
gree from the University- of Wyoming and a Master of
Music fi-om Colorado State University. Downing has
played tuba and bass trombone in numerous symphony
orchestras, wind bands and jazz ensembles in north-
central Colorado. Prior to moving to Colorado, she
taught music in grades K-12 in the Arvada-Clearmont
and Ten Sleep public school districts. Material for this
article was adapted from Downing 's doctoral disser-
tation, "Let 'Er Buck! Music in Cowboy Culture of the
Powder River Basin, Wyoming. " concerning chang-
ing musical styles and traditions found among ranch
folk of the middle Powder River Basin. Much of the
research consisted of oral histories, many of which were
tape-recorded. A number of area musicians, both pro-
fessional and amateur, were interviewed. Musical pref-
erences, backgrounds and performance venues of these
informants were presented, along with discussion of
folk and popular songs within their repertories.

George G. Lobdell, Jr. and
the Yale Scientific Expedition of 1871

at Fort Bridgera

Fort Bridget-

By Mary Faith Pankin

On August 22, 1871, the eleven members of the Yale
Scientific Expedition, led by Professor Othniel Charles
Marsh, arrived at Fort Bridger, Wyoming for a five
week stay. Their purpose was to uncover fossils which
would answer basic paleontological questions. Their
discoveries ultimately would reside in the University's
Peabody Museum. For most of the young participants,
however, a sense of adventure was an equally
motivating factor. George Gran\ille Lobdell, Jr., a
recent Yale graduate from Wilmington, Delaware, was
one expedition member. He kept a detailed diary of the
expedition, two volumes of which are extant.' In them
he vividly portrayed back-breaking work, colorful
characters, brushes with danger, and incidents of
uninhibited high jinx, with wonder, astuteness, and wry
humor.

George G. Lobdell, Jr. (1850-1942) was the son of
George Granville Lobdell (181 7-1 894), president of the
Lobdell Car Wheel Company, and Adeline Wheeler

Lobdell (1817-1909). He attended the T. Clarkson
Taylor Academy in Wilmington and Yale ShetTield
Scientific School (class of 1871) where he had
specialized in chemistry. Accompanying him from
Wilmington was his friend and Yale classmate John
Franklin Quigley ( 1 848- 1 897 ), the son of Eliza Quigley
and Philip Quigley (1816-1884), a prominent civil
engineer.-

' These two volumes covering .August 22, 1871 through December
23, 1871, are in the possession of the author, Lobdell's great-
granddaughter. For a brief summar. of the diar\ see Mary Faith
Pusey [Pankin], "The Yale Scientific Expedition of 1871,"
Manuscripts 28 (Spring 1976): 97-105.

- Jack, as he was called, later joined his father's business, and
the Quigleys received the contract for building the Machinery and
Agricultural Halls at the Philadelphia Centennial ExJiibition in 1876.
Biographical Record: Classes from Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-
eight to Eighteen Hundred and Se\'ent}-nvo of the Sheffield Scientific
School (}iew Haven: Yale University, 1910), 171-173, 181-182.

Annals of WyomingiTke Wyoming History

Both graduates had been reared in the expanding
Delaware city, where the population had grown from
8,452 in 1840 to 30,841 in 1870.' Local men had
founded the shipbuilding, railroad car and other
industries which added to Wilmington's prosperity.
Among the four largest of these firms was the Lobdell
Car Wheel Company.'' Members of this upper middle
business class took part in a wide variety of public
spirited activities, contributing to the social, cultural,
and material good of the community.'

The senior George Lobdell was a member of this
middle class elite. He was apprenticed as a youth to his
uncle Jonathan Bonney and, after Bonney's death in
1838, a partner with Charles Bush. In 1859 he gained
complete control of the company, changed its name to
the Lobdell Car Wheel Company in 1871 and served
as president until his death. Bonney had patented a
railroad car wheel with a rim of chilled iron, and by
1867 the company had become the world's largest
producer of railroad car wheels, with an annual gross
income of $585,000.*' Lobdell served on many civic
boards and in 1 869 was elected president of the Masonic
Hall Company, whose purpose was to erect a building
for the fraternal organization's meetings as well as for
musical and theatrical presentations.' Although Mrs.
Lobdell gave birth to ten children between 1842 and
1860, only five daughters and two sons, including
George Jr., were alive in 1871.

Young Lobdell could scarcely have had a more
knowledgeable and respected leader than Yale's
Professor Marsh, who since 1866 had served as the
first professor of vertebrate paleontology in the United
States. Marsh has been called "one of the most colorful
and lauded figures of nineteenth century science" and
"the greatest proponent of Darwinism in nineteenth
century America."*' He is credited with assembling the
magnificent collection of fossils that form the basis of
the Peabody Museum at Yale. Born in 1831, the
scientist was fortunate in that his mother, who died
when he was three years old, was the sister of the
philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), who took
an interest in his young nephew. From an early age
Marsh had pursued a fascination for geology. His uncle
paid for his education at Yale, where he received a
bachelor's degree in 1 860. In 1 86 1 - 1 862 he continued
his studies at the recently formed Yale Sheffield
Scientific School and later studied paleontology in
Germany. In 1866 Marsh persuaded Peabody to
contribute money for the construction of the museum
of natural history that now bears his name. With his
uncle's financial backing he became a non-teaching and

George G. Lobdell, Jr., 1871

non-salaried professor of paleontology at the Sheffield
Scientific Schoof

In the summer of 1868 Marsh attended a meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of
Science in Chicago. He took the occasion to ride the
length of the Union Pacific Railroad to a point sixty
miles beyond Benton, Wyoming. He became convinced

' Carol E. Hoffecker, Wilmington. Delaware: Portrait of an
Industrial City: 1830-1910 (Charlottesville, Va.: University Press
of Virginia, 1974). 71.

' Ibid., 20.

■■ For a detailed summary of the range of these efforts and a
discussion of the enlightened self interest that led to them, see Ibid.,
71-109.

"Historical Sketch. Lobdell Car Wheel Company (n.p.:
.Association of Manufacturers of Chilled Car Wheels. 1936), 1-2;
Harold C. Livesay, "The Lobdell Car Wheel Co., 1830-1867,"
Business Histoiy ke\'iew 42 (Summer 1968): 171-178.

' Toni Young, The Grand Experience: a Drama in Five .Acts
Containing a Description of Wilmington 's Grand Opera House &
Masonic Temple, a Victorian Building in the Second Empire Style
and a History of the Many Parts It Has Played in the Delaware
Community for More than a Century (Watkins Glen, N.Y.:
American Life Foundation & Study Institute, 1976), 14-18.

* Mark J. McCarren, The Scientific Contributions of Othniel
Charles Marsh: Birds. Bones, and Brontotheres (New Haven: Yale
University, 1993), 1.

" For a complete biography of Marsh, see Charles Schuchert and
Clara Mae LeVene, O.C Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontology (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1940).

Winter 19Q8

that this region would be a good fossil-hunting ground
and he soon planned an expedition to study a large
expanse of the West. He conceived of a scheme by
which some of his current and fonner students, who
would pay their own way, would accompan_\ him. He
would use his influence to get the protection of the
U.S. Anny through areas considered dangerous. Indian
wars delayed his first trip until 1 870. In the interim he
made news by exposing a hoax in Syracuse, New York,
where the so-called "Cardiff Giant," a huge man-sized
fossil, was being shown off to the gullible. Marsh
revealed that the giant had been carved from gvpsum
and was not a real fossil. In 1 869 George Peabody died,
leaving the professor with the financial resources to
lead expeditions from 1870 through 1873.'"

Marsh \\ as of medium height, with blue eyes and a
reddish beard. Although generally kindly and cheerful,
even jovial in the company of men, his single-minded
pursuit of his scientific goals could make him seem
forbidding at times. Colleagues noticed that he was
reticent to share his innemiost thoughts and seemed to
avoid true intimacv . One biographer wrote that he did
not tolerate opposition to his purposes and that "he
resented any encroachment upon the particular fields
of research in which he was engaged.""

Before the 1870s discoveries of dinosaur remains
were rare. With Marsh's finds and those of his
competitors, an exciting scientific era began. The first

expedition of June-December 1 870 consisted of Marsh
and twelve Yale men. The group worked in Nebraska,
Colorado, Wyoming (including Fort Bridger), Utah,
and western Kansas.'- Among their finds were the
remains of several species of horses and bones of the
great sea serpents (mosasaurs). In Kansas they found
the bones of what proved to be the first North American
pterodactyl, or flying reptile.''

For these young participants, just as with the 1871
group, the excitement resulted as much from the rough
living and danger of the West as from the intellectual
challenge. They survived a prairie fire. The presence
of hostile Indians required a military escort. The famed

" Bernard Jaffe. Men of Science m America: the Ston of
American Science Told Through the Lives and Achievements of
Twenty- Outstanding Men from Earliest Colonial Times to the
Present Day. Rev. ed. (>Jew York: Simon and Schuster, 1958).
279-306. For other concise biographical summaries of Marsh see
Charles E. Beecher. "Othniel Charles Marsh," American Journal
of Science. 4th ser.. vol. 7 (June, 1899): 403-428; and Charles
Schuchert, "Biographical Memoir of Othniel Charles Marsh. 1831-
1899," Biographical Memoirs of National Academy of Sciences of
the United States of America 20(1939): 1-78.

' ' Beecher, "Othniel Charles Marsh." 406.

"Ibid. 409-410.

''Richard Svvann Lull, "The ^ale Collection of Fossil Horses."
no. 1 of "Collections of Yale University," Supplement to Vale Alumni
IVeeklv (May 2, 1913): 3; and McCarren, The Scientific
Contributions of Othniel Charles Afarsh. 13.

I ' .-■'_, 'ijT^f^^ ^-^ i*f^> • '^^

r ■ I-

i;.,

', , <.. 1 . : ,1 c M |i..,i •. . (hi. 1' I •,-.•

Fort Bridger in 1867. sketch by General G. M. Dodge. Chief Engineer in building the Union Pacific Railroad.

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming Histon' Journal

Many D. Ziegler, 1871

scout Buffalo Bill accompanied them for a day and
exchanged manly jokes.''*

During the winter of 1870-1871 Marsh's research
convinced him that his Kansas discovery was indeed a
pterodactyl. This fact made him all the more anxious
to return to the Fort Wallace, Kansas, area as well as
other previous hunting grounds. On the second
expedition, besides Lobdell and Quigley, were eight
other men, all Yale graduates:

John Jay Dubois ( 1 846- 1 898), Yale 1 867, Columbia
LL.B. 1869, later a New York lawyer.

Oscar Harger ( 1 843-1 887), Yale 1 868, later Marsh's
assistant for seventeen years.

George Macculloch Keasbey (1850-1924), Yale
1 87 1 , later a Newark, N.J., lawyer, who served in 1 873
on the U.S. government survey of the One Hundredth
Meridian.

Alfred Bishop Mason (1851-1933), Yale 1871, later
an editorial writer and lawyer in Chicago. He became
an executive for several railroads. He wrote a series of
boys' books as well as works on law and constitutional
history, including A Primer of Political Economy.

Frederick Mead ( 1 848- 1 9 1 8), Yale 1871, later a New
York tea merchant.

Joseph French Page (1848-1928), Yale 1871, later a
Philadelphia wool merchant and real estate executive.

Theodore Gordon Peck ( 1 848- 1 934), Yale 1871, later
a brick manufacturer in West Haverstraw, N.Y.

Harry Degen Ziegler (1850-1 909), Yale 1871, later a
distilling company director. Ziegler married Lobdell' s
sister Florence Delano Lobdell in 1 876 and the two
lived in Philadelphia."

The first volume of Lobdell's diary, unfortunately,
is missing, but other sources reveal that the group
arrived in Fort Wallace and rode out on July 2 with an
army escort. The Kansas weather alternated between
torrid days and torrential rainy nights. In spite of the
weather, exhausting work, unreliable riding mounts,
and poor sanitation, their youthful stamina and
occasional alcoholic indulgence kept their morale
high.'* Returning to the spot where he had made the
previous find. Marsh joyfully uncovered more
pterodactyl bones, lending exactness to his calculation
of the large size of the creature. Spending about a month
in this locality, the crew found other pterodactyls, which
Marsh concluded were toothless and had wing spans
of twenty to twenty-five feet. The group then went to
Denver, Colorado, for several days of rest to escape
the heat and rain. They went to Fort Bridger by way of
Cheyenne, arriving on August 22, when Lobdell's
account starts."

Fort Bridger is located in the southwest comer of
Wyoming, in Uinta County, which had been organized
in 1869. Founded in 1843 as an Oregon Trail supply
stop by the trapper and scout James Bridger ( 1 804-
1881) and his partner Louis Vasquez, it became known
as a mail, express, and telegraph station. It had been
occupied by Mormon colonists from Utah in the 1 850s
and burned in the so-called Mormon War of 1857. In
1 858 it was rebuilt as a United States military post and
was used in this way until 1890. When the army

'■* Charles Belts, "The Yale College E.xpedition of 1870,"
Harper's New Monthly Magazine 43 (June-Nov. 1871): 663-671.
Buffalo Bill, or William F. Cody (1846-1917) became Marsh's
lifelong friend, visiting him in New Haven on several occasions.
Schuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh, Pioneer in Paleontology, 103.

" Schuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontology,
120-121.

'" Letter of Alfi-ed Bishop Mason, to "Tom," [probably Thomas
Thacher (1850-1919), a Yale classmate], Aug. 3, 1871, Othniel
Charles Marsh Papers, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University
Library, Microfilm reel 11.

'^ Shuchert and LeVene, O.C. Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontology,
121-124. Marsh made public reports on some of his findings. For
example, see his report of a skeleton of a small Hadrosaurus in The
American Journal of Science and Arts, 3rd series, vol. 3, no. 13-18
(Jan.-June 1872): 301.

Winter 19Q8

withdrew troops in 1861 because ofCivil War demands,
a volunteer company of about sixty guards protected
the fort until the December 1862 deployment of
Company I, Third California Infantry Volunteers.
During 1868-1869 the construction crew of the Union
Pacific Railroad required a military escort from the fort.
Currently Fort Bridger is a Wyoming state historic
site.'*

The high desert plains which surround the valley on
three sides can appear barren and uninviting. Summers
are short, with sometimes violent thunderstorms. Winter
arrives early, with snow falling as early as October.'"
The harsh climate resulted in health problems such as
frostbite and the rapid spread of disease caused by
overly snug and poorly ventilated barracks.-" The 1870
party had visited the fort and its environs during the
previous summer for several weeks. During this time
they had braved an elk stampede, a peaceful encounter
with Ute Indians, and a standoff with grain thieves.-'

By 1871, however, the army reservation had
decreased in size because of its waning military
importance. In March a War Department order had
reduced the fort's area to about four square miles,
turning over about 196 square miles to the Department
of the Interior.-- Fort Bridger was increasingly a stop
for scientific expeditions. In addition to the Yale party,
a government geological survey of the Uinta Mountains,
led by Ferdinand V. Hayden (1829-1887), visited the
fort in September 1 870. The Army Corps of Engineers
headquartered there while making a scientific
reconnaissance of Wyoming in June 1871.-'

The fort's commanding oftlcer was Major Robert
Smith La Motte ( 1 825- 1 88^8) of the 1 3th U.S. Infantry.
La Motte, who served in that capacity April 25, 1870-
September 1, 1872, was an affectionate family man
and faithful correspondent, who wrote to his mother
almost every week for many years.-"* In the letters he
only briefly mentioned Marsh's expeditions, but he did
name the two Wilmingtonians and commented that
Marsh thought highly of them.-'

The party camped in tents near the shore of Black's
Fork, a branch of which flowed through the parade
ground. They enjoyed the valley's views of the snow-
capped Uinta Mountains and soon spent their spare time
fishing and hunting the abundant game, in profligate
numbers by modem standards. Since Marsh and Ziegler
had visited there the previous year, they received
invitations right away and were able to introduce the
other young men into the social life of the fort, such as
it was. This centered around the family of its leading
citizen William A. Carter (1 818-1881), a native of
Virginia. From 1857 until his death this shrewd

entrepreneur initiated many pursuits and made himself
quite wealthy. He ran the trading post, was a judge and
post office agent, and had lumber, oil, and mining
interests.-^ While military commanders came and went.
Carter and his family were a constant presence at the
fort. The Judge had a reputation as an ethical
businessman and fair and responsible judge. The tlrst
entries in the second volume of Lobdell's diary describe
his arrival and settling in.

Tuesday August 22 —

We reached Bridger this P.M. about 1:15 — Found
Maj. Lamott [sic] in command. He recognized our
names when we were introduced. They had no place to
put us, so put us in camp, just outside of the quarters
the first thing. We have but 3 tents. Prof.. Harger &
Mead in one, Zieg, Peck. Page & Mason in another,
and DuBois in with us. Judge Carter did not show
himself. Last year the party were entertained by him.
hut I guess he got enough of them and doesn 7 want
any more. Went without dinner, except a lunch of some
crackers & cheese which Dr. Carter the judge 's
business manager, kindly gax'e us, but had a pretty good
supper, cooked by one of the soldiers, detailed for that
purpose — The Prof was away all day.-'' He & Zieg
had plenty of offers to dine out but the latter did not

" For an extensive histon, of the fort see Fred R. Gowans and
Eugene E. Campbell, Fort Bridger. Island in the IVilderne.'is ( Prove,
Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1975)..f or a more compact
history-, see Robert S. Ellison, Fort Bridger — a BrieF History, ed.
William Barton, Phil Roberts, et al. (Casper; Historical Landmark
Commission of Wyoming, 1931; Cheyenne; Wyoming State
Archives, Museums and Historical Department, 1^81).

'" Kathaleen Kennington Hamblin, Bridger Vallev a Guide to
the Past (Mountain View, Wyoming; [The Author], 1993), 1.

■" Jerome Thomases, "Fort Bridger; a Western CommunitN."
Mihtaiy Affairs 5 (Autumn I941);182.

= ' Betts. "The Yale College Expedition of 1870." 669-671.

■■ Gowans and Campbell, Fort Bridger: !sla)id in the Wilderness.
126.

•' Ellison. Fort Bridger — a Brief History: 49-52.

-■• La Motte's weekly letters to his mother during his stay at Fort
Bridger are in; La Motte Family Papers (BANC MSS C-B 450),
Box 2, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

-' La Motte Family Papers, La Motte to "Mother," Sept. 3,
1871.

-" Ellison, Fort Bridger — a Brief History, 61-71. For an
examination of Carter's many enterprises, see W.N. Davis, Jr., "The
Sutler at Fort Bridger," The Western Historical Quarterly 2 (Jan.
1971); 37-54.

■' This was probably James Van Allen Carter, unrelated to the
judge, who came to Fort Bridger in 1866, worked as a bookkeeper
for Judge Carter, and martied his daughter ,^nna Carter. Ellison,
Fort Bridger — a Brief History, 70. In his more active years Judge
Carter employed as many as 100 people. Davis, "The Sutler at Fort
Bridger," 50.

Annals oi Wyoming :The Wyoming History Journal

accept. ...Fort Bridger is very pleasantly situated, in a
beautiful little valley. Black Fork runs right through
the grounds. Smith 's Fork and other streams are not
far off. We are camped on Black's Fork about 15
minutes walkfi'om the shore. Except the valleys of the
streams the countiy around is nothing but sage deserts.
[Thirty] 30 miles south are the Uintah Mountains, some
of them 13. 000 feet high, and from here we can see the
snow capped peaks in certain lights. They say sage
hen and trout abound, but not quite so near the fort as
we are situated.-^

Wednesday, August 23 —

One thing is certain, they have cool nights in this
locality, although the middle of the day may be quite
warm. This morning early. Page, Mase, Keasbey and I
started up the valley after sage hens. Walked about 3
miles without seeing one. and then came back. Mead
& Peck started off after breakfast for trout, and brought
back quite a mess between them. We cooked them for
supper, & I tell you they were good. The Prof. ...went
off for a day 's sport with rods and guns. The Prof,
came back about 7:30 with about 40 trout, some of
them very fine indeed, and 5 sage hens. They went about
6 miles up stream.

Later that day Lobdell had his first encounter with a
Ute Indian. In the early 1 9th century, the Utes numbered
4,500. The confederacy of seven autonomous bands
occupied western Colorado and eastern Utah. In 1 868
the United States government persuaded them to move
west of the Continental Divide in Colorado. With the
discovery of gold in the San Juan Mountains, the Utes
ceded their western Colorado lands to the government
by treaty in 1873. Utes often dressed in buckskins and
adorned themselves with face painting, tattooing and
ear ornaments.-'' Although they took part in some small
disturbances in the 1850s, by this time they were
considered a minor nuisance for their petty thievery.^"

Wrote a long letter to Will today in answer to the
one I received from him yesterday. ^^ Was interrupted
while writing it by the advent of one of the aboriginals.
He was all rigged out in full dress, had his face all
painted up, beads around his wrists, earrings in his
ears, quills all over his breast, etc. He was a Ute, and
could speak a few English words. His first salutation
was "How" then "bread, bread". Zieg brought him a
lot of biscuits. Then "meat, meat." Zieg got him all the
meat he could find. He got a hold of my gun — "heap
big gun ?" he asked. We told him yes. ...He had 3 ponies

and a mule with him, and another Indian. His name
was Big Bullet. He had come from the Sweetwater, 125
miles off in "3 sleeps" (three days). "One sleep then
away — Uintahs, " he remarked, meaning, in one day
he was going to start for the Uintahs. "Ponies heap
tired" and must rest. He was about 5 ft 6 in height,
very powerfully built, and very ugly. Had his bow and
arrows along in a skin quiver. Had a very fancy knife
sheath. He had his knife in it, yet he was all the time
asking for "knife, knife. " Kept casting his eyes around
the tents. I suppose for something to steal as they steal
every thing they can lay their hands on. Zieg says he
traveled with them last year for two days. Staid in camp
all day, except a few minutes in the evening when

-* Sage hens are the females of a kind of native grouse, so called
because they feed on the buds of sagebrush. An unnamed army
officer quoted by Ellison, wrote that in the Fort Bridger area, turkey-
sized sage hens were extremely numerous. Ellison, Fort Bridger
— £3 Brief History, 37.

-' Barbara A. Leitch, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Tribes of
North America (Algonac, Michigan: Reference Publications, 1979),
493-494.

^° Thomases, "Fort Bridger: a Western Community," 183.

" Lobdell'solder brother William Wheeler Lobdell(1844-1914)
had been serving as secretary of the Lobdell Car Wheel Company
since 1867.

Judge William A. Carter

Winter 1998

Keasbey & I went in to mail our letters. Jack & Zieg
went if! to play whist with Capt. Whittlesey & some
other officer.

Thursday August 24 —

Took a walk into the store after breakfast this
morning. Ordered a pair of moccasins for myself and
one for Carrie.-'- Got weighed, weight J 32 — gained
tivo pounds since getting to Denver. Was introduced
to Col. Whittlesey. He was a Yale '53 man. Looks like
a regular "toper ": his cheeks are as red as fire — he is
a comical dick, but drinks gobs of whiskey I know.'^
He invited us to come see him, and Keasbey went. I
ought to have gone but didn 't.

The group soon visited another well known
character. John Robertson, nicknamed "Uncle Jack
Robinson" (1806-1884), who lived near the fort. He
had been on the frontier for many years, had married
two Shoshone Indian wives— Marook and Toggy— and
cared for many unrelated Indian children. A visiting
army officer in 1 866 described him as a hard-drinking,
generous, cheerful, and entertaining natural gentleman
who had earned and lost a large amount of money
trapping and trading. The famous English traveler Sir
Richard Burton (1821-1890) met him in 1860 and
reported that the old man had an investment of $75,000
in St. Louis but preferred to live on the frontier.'^ He is
buried in the Fort Bridger Cemetery, as are Judge Carter
and Mrs. Carter.

First though. I took a ride out to "Uncle Jack's"
with Mead. Page. Keasbey & Jack. Zieg and Mason
started with us but as we had a wagon without springs
and the road was very rough, they soon gave it up. got
out. and walked home. Uncle Jack Robinson is an old
settler who has been here 40 years. His ranche [sic] is
about 5 miles from the post on a branch of Smith's
Fork. We rode out for the purpose of buying ponies,
as he generally has a good stock on hand, but he had
but two to sell and Mead bought one. No one would
take the other. Uncle Jack has cjuite a ranche [sic] for
the localit}: four separate log huts. His ranche [sic] is
the great headquarters for Indians. He has one or two
beside an old hag. about 100-130 ears old, and when
we were there, he had a "buck" as they call them —
viz. , an Indian — either Ute or Shoshone — who helped
him with his stock. This fellow had a buffalo robe
wrapped around him, although he was apparently
dressed as we in other respects. The way he could ride

John "Jack" Robertson

was a caution. Uncle Jack was once cpiite rich. 2110 or
300 thousand, they say, but he has lost some of it. We
got back to camp about 5 o 'clock, had a Jolly good
dinner, after which we loafed around, built afire in
the evening and sat around it. Prof & Maj. La Motte
went hunting and returned late in the evening, with 14
sage hens and three rabbits.

'-Lobdell's sister Carolyn Wheeler Lobdell (1S51-1Q13).

"' Charles Henry Whittlesey (1832-1871) of New Haven,
Connecticut, graduated from Yale in 18,^3 and had been an army
captain since 1866. Lobdell's assessment of his drinking habits
may or may not have been correct. In any case, the officer died
soon after the party left, on October 18 of gastroenteritis, according
to La Motte, who also wrote that he had attacks of violent neuralgia
in the head sufficient to affect his mind. See Records of the United
States Army Commands: Fort Bridger (Washington, 1949;
reproduced for the University of Wyoming), reel 2, Letters sent,
1871- Oct. 18; Oct. 25. The cause of his death was more likely to
have been typhoid fever, as reported in Obituary Record of
Graduates of Yale College 2nd printed series, no. 2 (July 10, 1872):
62. ' '

" Ellison, Fort Bridger — a Brief Histoiy. 39-40; Hamblin,
Bridger Valley. 281-283; and Richard F. Burton, The City of the
Saints and Across the Rocky Mountains to California, ed. with an
introduction and notes by Fawn M. Brodie (New York: Alfred .'\.
Knopf 1963), 196.

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Lobdell and others bought mounts for the expedition
and were guests of Judge Carter's family. Carter, in
addition to being a devoted husband, was a well-
educated man who provided a schoolhouse and teachers
for his children so they would be able to attend college.
He was said to have the largest library in the territory
and was renowned for his hospitality. He owned a
Steinway piano, which was used for dances and other
musical entertainments.^"'

Friday August 25 —

We were all, nearby, busily engaged today in buying
ponies for the trip — Orders from Prof are that we pull
out tomorrow noon. After much running around, I
finally bought a pony from Mr. Day, the clerk in Judge
Carter 's store, for $65, and he promised to take him
back for $40 at least. Jack got a horse from Sergeant
Elsleyfor $80, and sells it back for $60. He had saddle,
etc. thrown in also. Zieg and Harger have mules. The
rest of the fellows got ponies one way or the other,
except Peck, who was unable to get a pony so had to
hire a mule. We have only 14 mules in the outfit and
12 of those are wagon mules.... In the evening "snobbed
up " and called on Maj. Lammott [sic] & wife with
Jack & Zieg, and also on Judge Carter & family. The
pretty Miss Carter, that Zieg talked so much about last
year did not make her appearance, but beside the other
daughters there was present Miss Atwood the post
governess.^^ While we were there Lieut. Wood, Adj
futantj of the post came in.^'' Methinks he 's rather soft
on the governess as he takes her riding very often, and
sort of hangs around her. Mead was there when we
called, and before we left the Prof made his
appearance, he having left there to go call on Maj.
Lammott [sic], when he arrived just as we left —

than average purity and taste levels as compared with
the usual low standards of the day.^*^ The sober Lobdell
seemed tolerantly amused by the resulting antics of his
friend Jack Quigley.

Saturday August 26 —

Went in to the post this morning to get my pony shod.
Found that his back had been bitten by a mule or
something and thus opened an old sore. Mr. Day did
not want me to take him and gave back the $65. 1 finally
succeeded in renting a mare from Chris, the
wheelwright for $25. 00 and after getting her shod went
out to camp. The wagons came out and we loaded them
up. Then had a visit ft-om Col. Whittlesey and Capt.
Clift, and as we were waiting for the soldiers, the former
invited us in to his quarters, "No. 2, Fifth Avenue " as
he facetiously termed it, where he generously treated
us to a lunch consisting of cold ham & tongue with
crackers and plenty of whiskey.'^'' A bottle of the latter
had been opened at camp, and in consequence of the
numerous inbibitions, Mase was anything but sober.
While at the Col. 's. Mead was pretty loud mouthed,
and none, except myself were exactly right, although
Zieg, Jack & Keasbey were by no means tight. As soon
as we left the Col. 's, we saddled up and started off.
Went out to camp & found the wagon gone. Jack &
Zieg were on ahead. Keasbey & I started after them
and caught up to the train just before getting to Uncle
Jack 's. Found Zieg and Jack at the latter place- and
Smith our guide. He told us the camp was to be about
2 1/2 miles down Smith 's Fork, so we pushed on. Jack,
because of frequent deep potations at the store and
from his flask after leaving the Post, was quite tight. In
fact, he could hardly keep [on] the saddle. He wanted
to race with everyone who came along, and beat

The next day the group left for their camp with a
military guard of ten men drawn from the fort's two
remaining companies. A Congressionally ordered pay
cut had led to poor morale and many desertions in the
previous two months.'* Along with a spate of desertions
came the problem of frequent drunkenness among
enlisted men and even officers. Prior to their departure,
some of the party accepted Whittlesley's invitation to
a whiskey-laden lunch, a circumstance which may have
confirmed Lobdell's suspicions about the officer's
excessive drinking. The source of the alcohol was Judge
Carter's store, which sold glasses of whiskey to enlisted
men and larger quantities to officers and civilians. The
judge customarily took care that his product met higher

'' Ellison, Fort Bhdger — a Brief History, 61-70; Gowans and
Campbell, Fort Bridger: Island in the Wilderness. 1 50.

"" Judge Carter reared four daughters and two sons at Fort Bridger.
The "pretty daughter" could have been the eldest girl Mary Ada.
Ellison, Fort Bridger — a Brief History. 70.

" A 2nd Lieutenant W.W. Wood was listed as an officer available
for court martial duty in a letter sent from the fort to the Judge
Advocate, Department of the Platte, Omaha, on August 27, 1871.
Records of the United States Army Commands: Fort Bridger, reel
2.

^' Url Lanham, The Bone Hunters (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1973), 109. The March pay cut resulted in twelve
desertions, although three returned because of the cold. Thomases,
"Fort Bridger: a Western Community," 185.

'' Davis, "The Sutler at Fort Bridger," 41.

■"* Captain E.W. Clift served as the fort's commanding officer,
Sept. I-Oct. 4, 1872. Ellison, Fort Bridger —a Brief History, 75.

Winter 1998

evervbody he raced with. [Three] or 4 times he rolled
over to one side, and first caught himself on the neck
of his horse. Once he hit his head against his horse 's
neck and gave himself a black eye. Mase came up
presently — after leaving Uncle Jack 's. He too was so-
so. Wanted to bet he could ride standing up in his
saddle. We pitched camp about 5 o 'clock, and
Slaughter, whom Maj. Lammott [sic] made go with us
cooked us a bully supper. The Prof and Mead did not
get in till about 6. and DuBois. the rearguard, as Ed
Lane dubbed him. came straying in still later. We had
no drinking water, except for a well which Smith had
dug. but that was vety good, although not clear by any
means.

Over the next few weeks the group worked over
several areas in the region, meeting with some success.
They found some teeth, lizard and jawbone fossils,
which, unfortunately, Lobdell does not describe in
enough detail to identify them as any that Marsh
reported to scientific journals. A member of the party,
writing in the New-York Times, claimed that the
month's rewards were the result of painstaking work:
"... we unearthed large quantities of bones of animals
resembling the turtle, lizard, serpent, crocodile.

rhinoceros, tapir and elephant, and. ..fossils of all
dimensions, down to a tiny tooth scarcely larger than
the head of a pin....we have literally crawled over the
country on our hands and knees. "'^'

Sunday, August 27 —

After breakfast the Prof took us out with him to show
us the lay of the land, and our working ground. We
struck southeast from camp, to Grizzly Buttes. then
continued on till mv struck its lodge pole trail, i.e.. a
trail made by Indians with their ponies, leaving lodge
poles tied on the side of them.'*- This trail follows up
some very steep buttes. so steep we had to get off and
lead them up. We followed the lodge poles till we struck
a wood trail leading to the Heniy 's Fork road, which
we followed down till we struck the latter, then came
home bv it....

■" "The Yale Party," New-York Times. Oct. 17, 1871.

''- Grizzly Buttes was the name gi\en to some fossil bearing
badland buttes running from northeast to southwest about five miles
east of the current town of Lyman. The picturesque name comes
from Jack Robertson's story that he had once found a petrified
grizzly bear there. Hamblin, Bndger Valley. 505.

O. C. Marsh. 1877.
Manuscripts and Archives.
Yale Universit\' Libran'

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

The group generally stayed in good spirits, and got
along well, playing whist in the evenings. For Lobdell,
the arrival of letters was a very welcome event. From
time to time, he expresses a slight disapproval of
Dubois's apparent laggardliness, in spite of the fact the
young man had been energetic enough to earn a law
degree from Columbia University and was later a
successful New York attorney.

Wednesday August 30 —

Finished up the region. We started Monday, today,
without getting much. We are having first-rate times
on this trip. The weather has been cool and pleasant,
moonlight nights, and cool mornings till the sun rises,
then it gets warm, but the air is so bracing one does
not get tired as we did in Kansas. Evenings we usually
spend in Zieg 's tent, listening to the conversation,
drinking & playing cards. Zieg & Mase have one side
of the tent. Rick & Page the other. Zieg & Mase call
their side the garden of Eden, the other, the "bear
garden. " because as they say all the time they growl at
each other....

Friday Sept. 1—

Started out for the same general locality' as yesterday,
but worked to the east or left hand instead of the right.
Had very poor luck and returned early, getting into
camp by 4 o 'clock. Mason 'spony broke loose last night,
and Zieg occupied the most of the morning hunting her
up. Finally found her in one of McDonald's herds.
McDonald has a ranch about 2 miles from camp and
the pony formerly rem with his herd.

Saturday Sept. 2—

Took a different region today. North of the Henry 's
Fork road—DuBois started about his usual distance in
the rear and did not join us all day. We had vety poor
luck for this round but Jack & I got two good lizards.
Returned about 5 o 'clock. One of the teamsters went
in to the post and when he returns will bring the mail
with him....

Tuesday Sept. 5—

Went with Peck today, as he had a region very rich
in good fossils— we had very good luck. I got a lizard
& some other things. Jack found several nice jaws.
Keasbey had poor luck. Zieg & DuBois went to the

post today, Zieg after the wagons, etc.. for they move
camp tomorrow— & DuBois to get his saddle fixed, as
it hurts his "beloved Kate. " He makes more fuss than
a little over his pony which by the way is the best in the
outfit. Zieg stayed in all night but DuBois came out
and brought the mail. Nothing for me, which is very
strange. Played whist again tonight with Mase & Page.
Mead & I beat them 3 out of 5. they winning 2 games.

Wednesday Sept. 6—

Moved camp today about 5 miles, over on Sage Creek,
near where we bathed Sunday last. Jack went with the
wagons. DuBois was the first to start off— a remarkable
incident which can be accounted for only by the fact
that he merely concerned himself making ready his
personal effects etc. Keasbey & I went back on the old
trail, stopped before we got to the hunting place of
yesterday, and after looking around a while and not
finding anything pushed on beyond. Struck Dube at
the lunching place— and as it was late when we started,
stopped for lunch after which we went farther on. Had
pretty good luck. Found a lizard and 2 or 3 little Jaws,
one of which the Prof had never seen before. Keasbey
& I were the last in camp, we were so far away. It took
us 1 1/2 hours to get in. Built a camp fire at night, and
all sat around it.

Thursday Sept. 7—

Took my party this morning to a canyon above the
lodge pole trail to a spot where we went the Sunday
Prof, took us around. We did not find anything of any
consequence, although there were some good looking
buttes there. The region had been worked over pretty
thoroughly last summer. We could see lots of old foot
marks, and plenty of buttes, but nothing else. A rain
storm came up about noon, and DuBois went home.
He started just in time to get home by the time the storm
was over, and hence got nice & wet. I got into a little
cave and kept comparatively diy. Jack & Keasbey got
under some cedars. They went home shortly after lunch,
but I hunted around until 3 o 'clock. Got in about 4.
found Zieg & his party in, they had found nothing but
got nicely wet....

Friday Sept. 8-

The Prof, thought at first that he would take us with
him, but changed his mind before we got started and
told us to take the canyon beyond him. He went with us

Winter 1QQ8

to Start lis and teach its how to hunt for little things,
after which he left us to ourselves. DuBois. for a great
wonder started with us this morning- W'c had first rate
luck. I especially. Jack & Keasbey went to Uncle Jack 's
fRobertson 'sj after lunch, to see about a pair of
moccasins for the former, and when they returned. Jack
went on ....

Saturday Sept. 9--

lack & I started back for the butte where I left off

yesterday, leaving Diibe & Keasbey. who were behind
as usual, to fillow but the Prof sent Keasbey off with
Zieg. Jack & I had first rate luck. I worked on the same
hiitte all day. and got about a dozen different things
from it. besides what I got yesterday. Jack also got
some things from the same hiitte. IVe each of us got a
new carnivore and Jack a new mammal also. .4 rain
storm came up about 2 o 'clock, and thinking it would
be a rainy ilay. we put for camp, which we reached
without getting veiy wet. Found Zieg & Keasbey in
and the others straggled in aftenvards. Mason went to
the post to order a buckskin suit. He returned after
supper with the mail—iunic for me— I 11 teach them a
lesson at home when f write Ligain...

The rain\ autumn weather was beginning to carry a
chill, occasional frost appeared, and the snow-capped
Uinta Mountains presented the observers with a
beautiful view. Professor Marsh was an accomplished
fisherman, and freshly-caught fish continued to be a
staple in their diet.

Monday Sept. 11 —

Found it very rainy this morning and no prospect of
clearing off at first. Finally the clouds broke, and we
concluded to move camp down to Henry's Fork. 15
miles S.E. from Sage Creek camp. The road was quite
muddy when we started, about 1 1 o 'clock, but it soon
dried off Prof & a party of us started on ahead, and
then about 5 miles from Heniy 's Fork, stopped to hunt
fossils. The wagon road runs along Sage Creek for
about 7 or S miles then crosses it and strikes over to
Henry's Fork, through biittes and washouts. At one
place it ascends a very steep hill, up the divide, fust
before reaching the Fork. Here they have had to double
up in order to get the wagons up the hill. We found
quite a number of fossils, although we did not look
veiy long, or veiy thoroughly. Peck found a veiy good
thing, ft was more or less showeiy during the day. We
started for camp about 4 o 'clock— going around by the

road. After passing over the divide, the Uintahs burst
upon our view, and I think their snow capped peaks
glistening in the sunlight afforded one of the most
magnificent spectacles I have ever witnessed. Reached
camp in about an hour. Found it very pleasantly
located. The creek runs right back of the tents — abcnit
20 yds. — is about the size of Blacks Fork & fisj full of
trout. The Prof of course was not satisfied with the
position of his tent, which was next to ours. Zieg 's being
on the other side of us. Mead & DuBois have a tent set
out and they were next to Prof but the latter had his
moved beyond all the others. Tonight we had another
rain, the most violent we have yet had. ft even wet
through the tent. .After it cleared off— cold.

Tuesday Sept. 12--

When / awoke early this morning before
sunrise-found the ground all covered with frost, and
my buffalo robe wet with dew. ft wns very cold The
water in nearly all the buckets was frozen. The rain
storm here had been a snow storm in the mountains
and the peaks were covered with snow far lower than
the usual limit. They presented a most magnificent
spectacle from camp— for the atmosphere was as clear
as could be. and the sunlight on the snow made a
splendid picture. Our party (Jack. Keas. & I) — with
Diibe for rear guard, started for a region just beyond
where we were yesterday, farthest away from camp as
usual.... We got in rather late for supper, as Jack &
Keasbey were loaded & had to walk their ponies. This
morning before breakfast Prof went fishing and
returned before we could get away with 28 or 30 trout.
Henry 's Fork abounds in trout, and we are sure to live
well while here for the Prof is an excellent fisherman...

Professor Marsh allowed his team members two da\s
off for hunting and fishing expeditions. Lobdell,
Keasbey, and Quigley planned their trip for the
weekend, while others went earlier in the w eek. Lobdell
was somewhat mollified about his lack of letters when
he learned from his sister Carrie that the family had
been traveling for two weeks. In the same mail came a
newspaper containing the results of the Wilmington
city council election. The Wilmington Daily Commer-
cial reported a Republican sweep, w ith a majority of
three on the council.'*-' Jack Quigley's father was one
of the successful candidates.

Wilmington Daily Commercial. Sept. 6, 1871.

Annals ot Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Thursday Sept. 14 —

Returned to same region. Jack got sick & came home-
-had a headache he said— about as much "letter ache"
I guess. Keasbey &. I did not get very much but did not
return empt}>-handed—got home a little after 4, found
a letter from Carrie for me and a paper from Bob. I
presume —containing an account of the election at
home. The city went Republican by a large majority
(850 or so). Election was for councilmen & pres. of
council. Jack 's father is elected to council from the 6th
ward. Carrie 's letter partly excused the lack of letters
previously. The folks have all been away from home
for the past two weeks, and hence I have received no
letters. ...Zieg. Mase & Page started off for their trip to
the mountains today, taking with them 2 days rations.
Mead. Peck & party did not return tonight, although
their time was up.

Aftef narrowly avoiding injury in a riding mishap
and encouraged by another party's siting of deer, elk,
and other game, Lobdell set out with three friends on a
hunt, carrying food, blankets, and ammunition. They
had initial difficulty finding their way but pressed on.
Although they saw a tantalizing number of deer and
antelope as well as the usual sage hens and rabbits,
they did not land any game. For Lobdell, however, the
beauty of the mountains and the valley made up for the
cold weather and lack of tangible rewards from the hunt.

Friday Sept. 15—

Went back to the old place, but returned early to get
ready for our trip tomorrow. Keasbey & I went out
after sage hen. Keasbey shot a couple but I could not
hit them, although I had plenty of good shots. I had
quite a narrow escape from [an] accident today. When
we were out shooting Polly (my pony) fell down, and
rolled me off with the exception of my left foot, which
caught in the stirrup. The pony getting up became
frightened at my position and commenced to run.
dragging me quite a distance through sage brush, but
I managed to get my foot out before any damage was
done. We got everything ready tonight for the trip, so
as to get an early start, and not get off about 10. as the
other fellows did. Smith & his party returned tonight
bringing a deer with them, which Smith had shot. None
of the others killed any. Mead wounded a fawn but it
got away from him. Peck saw a California lion & shot
at it but did not hit it. They are animals somewhat like
panthers, and are very cowardly. Will not fight if they
can run. Smith saw a herd of elk, but did not get a shot

at any. He told Jack where to go tomorrow to find lots
of deer. Jack mapped out the country for us. but I did
not pay much attention to it. so we rely on Jack for
guide....

Saturday Sept. 16—

Got off this morning directly after breakfast. We got
up before breakfast and got everything ready, even to
saddling our ponies. We took with us 45 biscuits. 2
boxes of sardines, the two sage hens we got last night—
& coffee, sugar, salt & pepper. Keasbey & I took our
robes & overcoats. Jack took besides his blue blankets
and rubber blankets. We all had our carbines & about
20 rounds of ammunition. We struck up first for the
hay stack about a mile above camp, on the opposite
side of the fork— there across for the nearest mountain
expecting to strike Henry 's Fork before we reached
it. . ..Not finding the fork— or any indication of it— before
reaching the mountains we pulled off to the right, and
traveled over divide after divide— finally struck some
stream which at first we thought sure was the fork, but
it turned out to be a small stream. We crossed this with
some difficulty, on account of the thick undergrowth,
and finally reached a nice cotton wood grove. There
we stopped for lunch. While eating which we saw a
very large herd of antelope. 25 or 30 at least. They
were too far off to shoot however. We saw lots of sage
hens &Jack rabbits on the way over. Keasbey & Jack
tried their rifles on sage hen and I shot once at a Jack
rabbit. None of the shots hit— however. After lunch we
pushed on over— divide after divide— and finally reached
the banks of the fork. The view was magnificent. We
were high above the bed of the stream and could only
just hear the gurgling of the water. We could not see
the water for the thick growth of trees, but could trace
it along by its undergrowth and shrubbery, some
distance downstream as well as a short ways up. to a
point where it wound around the mountain. After gazing
upon the scene for some minutes we descended the hill,
and pursued our way up hill— at first over an entirely
new road but after while we found a trail and this we
followed as far as we could. The fallen trees and thick
underbrush finally stopped our course on the right
bank, there we turned back, crossed the stream and
tried it on the left bank, but we could not get any farther
than before. We spent the afternoon until 6 o 'clock
careening around. & looking for the camp of the other
party, but not finding it— finally gave up the hunt and
pitched camp, on a nice grassy slope— just at the edge
of a grove, and on the east side of a hill. Keasbey went

Winter 1998

fishing while Jack & I got some firewood, made afire,
and started the coffee to boiling. When Keasbey
returned (without anything) we had supper. He found
the fawn that Mead shot, and lots of foot prints showing
that we were not far from the old camp. We sat around
the fire and talked until about 9 o 'clock, then we
wrapped ourselves in our robes and went to sleep. Saw
two deer while we were riding along the stream, but
could not get a shot at them.

Sunday Sept. 17—

We got up before sunrise this morning and started
for a deer hunt— before breakfast. Jack stopped at a
place near camp, where there ]vere plenty of tracks
and Keasbey & I beat around through the woods.
stopping after a while at another spot, showing fi-esh
tracks, but none of us saw any game. We saw plenty of
tracks, elk as well as deer, but no animals, except jack
rabbits. About 9 o 'clock we went back to camp, got
breakfast and then started for the mountains. We made
a bee line nearly for the butte to the right of the big
opening opposite camp, reached it about noon, and
leaving our horses at the bottom, climbed to the top.
The view from there was perfectly grand. Although the
atmosphere was rather hazy & cloudy we could see
the mountains opposite quite plainly, and while we were
ascending we were visited by a snow storm. Where we
were only a few fiakes fell but in the mountains proper
it snowed for some time, and the amount on the summit
of the peaks, was perceptibly increased. The gorge at
the foot of the range we were on was a magnificent
sight, and the valley— a continuation of it — ran directly
down to camp. We could not see the latter but we could
see where it was. There were several fires raging in
the woods— some of them quite large and they seemed
to be on the increase. About 1:30 we started in for
camp and reached the latter place about 5:30. We
brought back 15 biscuits and a box of sardines.
Although we did not kill any game, our trip was a veiy
enjoyable one....

In the next ten days the party worked some old and
new regions, making some new finds. AUhough they
were showing signs of fatigue and experiencing
occasional illnesses, they gathered numerous moss
agates, which are agate minerals with mosslike or
treelike markings. Before returning to Fort Bridger, they
entered the Millersville area where they viewed the
fascinating Church Buttes, a sandstone formation
eroded to resemble a church.

Thursday Sept. 21 —

Worked the line of bluffs opposite camp today from
the point to where they run out about 3 miles down
stream. Found scarcely anything. Harger's mule
followed DuBois out today (so he says) and he used
her for climbing the bluffs, leaving Kate down in the
valley eating grass. Mase was quite sick and could not
go out. Jack had to leave work too— he was chafed on
the leg so as to prevent his riding. Keasbey 's pony had
a sore back, so he took Jack 's. Shaw shot a deer today.
Shaw is one of the soldiers, a queer little dick, who has
crazy fits now & then. He keeps a diaiy. regularly— and
reads it aloud to his comrades at night. Corp. Smith is
copying it— a mean trick, 1 think. One of his entries
relates to Jack, something about his finding Jack 's
revolver on the day we left the post, and stating that
either the "mountain air" or whiskey had had a
mysterious effect upon him. Mead started out about 4
o clock after deer and came back about 8:30 with an
antelope, which he had shot....

Sunday Sept. 24--

Started off' after breakfast to finish up the region I
left yesterday. Jack started out with me. but had to turn
back. Zieg, however, came out and joined me, soon
after got to work. We did not get much, and came in by
two o 'clock. Went to packing up my fossils, then took a
bath— the second one since I have been here. The water
is too cold to take them oftener. Mead went off hunting
with Smith. Page started for fishing. Peck & Prof for
fossils. The rest of the fellows stayed in camp and
packed up etc. Mead & Smith returned before supper
time, without anything. They went after elk. Page
brought in 50 trout & Peck only 6. The latter fished in
Beaver Creek, which did not turn out as well as he
expected. Hunter, the teamster, who came out in
Welch 's place today brought me a letter fi-om Carrie
& Addie dated Sept. 16& 17."

Monday Sept. 25-

Was up by sunrise this morning, and so were most of
the fellows. We were bound for once to make an early
start, and were all packed up & tents down before
breakfast, which we had at 7 instead of half past as
usual. Jack, Zieg, DuBois & Peck stayed with the
wagons, to see about pitching tents, etc. They got off

" Lobdell's sister was Addie Wheeler Lobdell, who was ten years
younger. She married WiUiam Seaman in 1886.

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming History Jo

about 8:20. The Prof. & the rest of us started ojf a
little later (with the exception of Mead who did not
start for a half hour or more) and taking the lodge
pole trail got ahead of the wagons. The Prof, wanted
to look at some bluffs on the road. We were bound for
Church Buttes, which the Prof thought were 28 miles
distant. ^^ The road runs along past our old camp at
Sage Creek—being in fact the same road we went to
Henry 's Fork on as far as the hill at Grizzley Buttes.
There it keeps along in the [direction] to the right,
crosses Sage Creek, follows down Smith 's Fork, until
reaching Millersville. where Smith 's Fork joins Black 's.
Here it strikes the old emigrant road, a broad and good
road, having evidently been much traveled in older
times. Before goingvery far in the south, old Hardshell
(the Prof 's horse, so named from the fact that a
hard-shell Baptist minister used to own him), became
lame, having probably sprained his ankle by stepping
upon a rolling stone. In consequence of this the Prof
was obliged to slacken up and we did also. About 2
o 'clock we stopped for lunch, and had only been
through a short time when we were surprised by the
arrival of the wagons. Prof left Hardshell with Harger,
taking the latter 's mule and telling him/Harger to stay
with the wagons. We pushed on again till we reached
Millersville.'^^ This place was formerly a stage station.
There are three or four good log houses there now
and a good sized log stable, but the place is entirely
deserted by man. Here we crossed Black 's Fork, and
went to look at some bluffs nearby. Not seeing any
fossils we hunted for moss agates. & got quite a
number— some of them very pretty, although quite
small. We looked around here until we saw the wagons
go by. then the Prof, told us we might push into camp,
and he would look over the bluffs hurriedly. We pushed
on, stopping to look for agates on the way. and before
going far the Prof caught up so we all pushed on
together. & caught up with the rest of the outfit just as
they were pitching camp. Our camp is situated on
Black 's Fork, the tents facing the stream and only a
few steps from it. Had the usual difficulty in settling
the position of the Prof 's tent, but as he was here to
state the spot we got that settled. The camp is at least 6
miles distant fi-om the buttes. but as we only expect to
stay till Thursday, the Prof, thought it would do very
well. It was after 6. when we got in and was so dark
we had to have supper by candle light.

Tuesday Sept. 26—

We all started out together today, that is, with the
exception of DuBois. Peck & Keasbey. who were as
usual behind. The teamsters went with us. looking for
moss agates. When we reached the bluffs— about 5 miles
off— not seeing any good places for fossils we
commenced to look for more agates. Prof. & all. We
got some very nice ones among us. Harger got the
finest— the best I have ever seen, even cut. Mead& Page
were with us till lunch time, then they went in. and we
followed them shortly. Zieg staid with the Prof. &
Harger. They did not get in until late, having first visited
Church Buttes proper. They gave such a glowing
account of these bluffs that all the rest of us determined
to visit them tomorrow. We got to camp about 3 o 'clock.
Peck & DuBois came in shortly afterM'ard. Peck & Jack
went out fishing, but did not get anything. Page also
went- caught one "chub " I believe. Keasbey & I took
a bath in the afternoon. Water and air both cold. The
nights are not so cold here as they were on Henry 's
Fork— or the water either. The atmosphere still remains
smoky, whether from fires in the mountains or not. I
can 't tell.

Wednesday Sept. 27—

Today was the last day of our Fort Bridger trip. This
morning the wagons went into the post. Zieg started
off before breakfast to get things ready. Keasbey. Jack.
Mead. Page. DuBois and myself started off a little ahead
of the wagons to go to Church Buttes. Peck intended to
go but was sick and was unable to do so. We left camp
at 20 minutes of 9. and reached the Buttes about
10— they were well worth the ride and did not fall at all
short of the description given by the Prof 's party.*''
The principal butte is very near the old Emigrant
road— about a mile beyond the old stage station. It is
about 300 feet high, the slopes veiy steep, and washed
out were all sorts offantastic shapes, regular pulpits,
pillars & columns of all styles. It was truly a grand

"" The Church Buttes formation is northwest of Bridger Valley
about ten miles southwest of Granger, and was probably discovered
by Jedediah Smith in 1824. Hamblin, Bridger Valley: 501.

■"' Millersville was at the junction of Smith's and Black's Forks.
Sir Richard Burton passed through here in his travels and found it
deserted except for one person. Hamblin, Bridger Valley. 5 1 0.

■" A contemporar>' guidebook describes the buttes as resembling
at a distance "the fluted columns of some cathedral of the olden
time, standing in the midst of desolation." Crofutt's Trans-
conrinenral Tourist's Guide, 4th vol., 3d annual rev. (New York:
Crofutt, 1872), 83.

Winter 1QQ8

sighf and is certainly one of the queerest formations I
have ever seen. We left the Butte at 1(1: 15 and hy I /,
were hack to our old camping place. Here we judged
the distance to be not over 6 miles. By 12 we had
reached Millersville. and when about 5 miles farther
on we stopped for lunch. Keasbey. Jack & I were ahead
hut the other fellows caught up to us here. DuBois with
them, much to our surprise for he had just reached the
butte as we left it. He stopped about an hour for lunch,
then pushed fan] for the post. We three reached it
about 3 o 'clock. . . .

While the commanding officer was away from the
fort, the officers enjoyed themselves with racing,
drinking, and betting. Many in the Yale party joined
in. even to the point of pla\ ing drunken jokes on
Professor Marsh and attempting risk\ stunts. While
more wholesome e\ents such as church services and
even baseball games did occasionally take place at Fort
Bridger. drinking was a major leisure activity.'"' Lobdell
seemed happy when the fort's commanding officer
returned and some order again reigned. The young man
apparently seldom drank alcohol, but he was not
especially censorious of those who drank (even to
excess), perhaps because it seemed to be accepted by
the fort's occupants. His father was involved in the
temperance movement and on at least one occasion,
the elder Lobdell gave a speech in which he expressed
the opinion that alcoholism was a disease rather than a
sin and could be cured "as any other disease is cured.""""
Thus the junior Lobdell may have avoided drinking
for health rather than moral reasons. In this course of
action he apparently persisted. His grandson
remembered that when he was close to ninety years
old, a doctor advised a small glass of wine with dinner.
He followed this medical advice for several weeks and
then stopped, remarking that he was afraid it might be
habit-forming.'"

Maj. La Matte is away from the post and the officers
have been having a high old time. Recently they had a
horse race, between Lieut. Rogers ' horse and Dun lap 's
for $25 and a keg of beer. The former won, and next
Saturday the same horse is to run another race for
$100 a side with a different horse. Lieut. Rogers &
Mr. Scott his clerk were out to see us todav. Zieg
received a bo.x of whiskies from home, and the fellows
emptied one bottle for him They have all gone to the
post except Harger and me-and at last account were
at Lieut. Rogers ' where Zieg reported drunk as a fool.
All the fellows will probably be tight by midnight. They

say the Prof is rather lively. Keasbey d Zieg are going
to Lieut. Allmond's. He is having a wooden wedding
spread, and invited the whole outfit to come and
partake. I would have gone with them if I had been
well and it was not so troublesome to put on my store
clothes. Received quite a long letter from Carrie today,
containing a brie/account of their trip. They must have
had a very pleasant one from all accounts.

Nearing the end of the Fort Bridger stay, Lobdell
reflected that it had been much more pleasant and
productive than the Kansas portion of the expedition.

Today ends properly our Bridger trip. Tomorrow we
pack up fossils, and Friday we leave for Salt Lake. We
have had a might}' pleasant time, in comparison with
Kansas, for a trip like ours this count)y is infinitely
better suited. With plenty of good water, plenty- of
eatables well cooked too. good ponies to ride, arid any
quantity of rare fossils, to gladden the Prof 's eve. and
bring forth many an "egad" from his lips, it is not to
be wondered at that we engaged ourselves so heartily,
and we all did with the exception perhaps of Mason,
and he did also before he was taken sick. Started to
write a letter to .4ddie tonight but uns interrupted by
Zieg, bringing Jack home in such a condition that mc
had to put hitu to bed. Rogers. Roche. Wood and other
officers with all (four fellows except Peck. Harger &
I were on a terrible spree. Jack got dead drunk and
had to be brought home. Mead was veiy lively & happy.
Page ditto. DuBois. Zieg & Keasbey were tolerably
sober. Zieg all right in fact. I started down to the post
with Zieg after we got Jack to hcd--to bring the rest
home but we met them on the way-and had more fun
than a little with Mead & Page. It was early too. not
after 10 o 'clock. We met the Prof fust before meeting
the fellows, and he went back with us Wc had a good
Joke on him. He had set his watch an hour ahead and
wanted to make us believe it was 1 1 instead often but
we were too many for him and he had to knuckle under.

^* For example, the men celebrated the 1872 Independence Day
holiday with a baseball game as well as drinking. Thomases, "Fort
Bridger: a Western Community," 188.

'° George G. Lobdell. .Address Delivered Before the Red Ribbon
Temperance Association. ofWilmington. Delaware, in Institute Hall.
February 2 1 St. !8S6 (Wilmington: Ferris Brothers, 1886). 9.

™ William W. Pusey III, interview by Mar>' Faith Pankin. June
6, 1993. Pusey also recalled \\ith amusement the uncharacteristic
exuberance with which his grandfather greeted the enactment of
Prohibition. .Apparently the already elderly man bounced up and
down on his bed singing, "Oh, no, I won't get drunk no more!" at
the top of his lungs, to the amazement of the whole family.

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Thursday Sept. 28—

Was busy all day today, helping the Prof, pack his
fossils, writing letters and packing my trunk. We filled
lOor 1 1 boxes with fossils, skeletons, etc. Prof, Harger
& I did most of the packing. Keasbey helped some. Did
not go into the post but twice. Once in the afternoon to
mail my letters and get weighed— my weight was 138.
gain during the trip 6 lbs. Jack weighs 144. so he is
still ahead of me. Keasbey gained 3 lbs.. Zieg lost 3.
While at the store, the brewer came in blowing for a
pistol. He and Murray had been fighting & he had
drcnvn a pistol on Murray, so the latter said. Murray
had no pistol, and the Dutchman now wanted to get
one so they could fight on even terms. He was a big
brawny cuss and could whip 2 or 3 like Murray- his
favorite expression was "I'm a tough boy from the
Rhine— me! " Murray was one of our escort, he already
had a black nose which I suppose the Dutchman had
given him. Everybody around the post nearly was drunk.
Major La Motte returned about our dinner time and 1
presume things will go better hereafter. Jack. Zieg,
Mead & DiiBois went on another spree tonight. Jack
started in with Peck to sleep in the hospital, but
afterwards went to Capt. Clift 's quarters, and with the
aid of the fellows above named— and Rogers, Roche
and the Capt. emptied 2 barrels of beer. About 12
o 'clock they came out to serenade the Prof; had a song
arranged expressly for the occasion, and they sang
tolerably well, beating on the tent, near where the
Prof 's head would come, in order to make sure of
awakening him. Much to their surprise & disgust
however the Prof, was not in his tent, so they loafed
around, burnt up a barrel and a box, for a camp fire,
and finally the Prof came out. Then they had it over
again. Capt. Clift was drunk as a fool— the rest knew
what they were about. 1 judge, although Mead and
Roche were going to swim up Black 's Fork on a bet.
and Roche had stripped himself naked and Mead to his
undershirt when Bishop, the officer of the day stopped
their foolery. Keasbey stayed home in the evening,
writing letters.

Despite some alcoholic excesses, the men had good
reason to feel satisfaction from their five weeks of hard
work. From this expedition in the Bridger basin, eleven
boxes of fossils eventually arrived at Yale.''

The group made an early start the next morning for
Salt Lake Cky, where they would stay until October 6.
They boarded the Union Pacific Railroad, which
stopped at Carter's Station, several miles from the fort,

where an ugly red building for passengers and freight
had been built in 1868. Judge Carter had been
unsuccessful in influencing the line to run trains closer
to Fort Bridger, supposedly because a principal planner
could not get whiskey there on Sunday and took his
revenge." The train went through Wasatch, Utah, to
Ogden, where they changed cars to go to Salt Lake
City."

On the way they passed through some magnificent
and infriguing canyon scenery with which Lobdell was
extremely impressed. A contemporary guidebook also
praised these landmarks in glowing terms, calling Echo
Canyon's beauties "so many, so majestic, so awe
inspiring in their sublimity," and claiming that Weber
Canyon possessed "fresh objects of wonder and interest
... on either hand."'''

Friday Sept. 29—

Was up at 5 o 'clock this morning. We had a thunder
storm, just about that time but it did not last long, and
did no damage. The wagons came shortly after 6. and
we loaded them and got them started. Then after
breakfast we went down to the fort, bid evervone
around good bye— and started for the station. We got
there fidlfyj half an hour before the train and got all
our baggage attended to. Rogers & Roche were with
us. About 10:30 we all got aboard and started for
Ogden— getting seats in the Pullman car. At 1:30 we
stopped at Wasatch for grub. Had a couple of little
Chinese to wait on the table, they did it might}' well,
too. After leaving Wasatch, the road passes through
the most magnificent scenery in the line of the U.P.
road. Soon after leaving we entered the famous Echo
Canyon. The grade is down all the way. and the scenery
is truly grand. On one side the hills, or more properly
speaking, mountains, arise with abrupt declivity, but a
few feet from the track, and in some cases huge masses

■''' Schuchert and LeVene, O C. Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontolog\>.
124-125.

'- Gowans and Campbell, Fort Bridger: Island in the Wilderness,
p. 149; Uinta County Museum Board, Our Railroad Heritage: the
Union Pacific in Wyoming ([Evanston, Wyoming], n.d.), 15-16.
For a summary of the building of the Union Pacific in Wyoming in
the late 1860s, see T.A. Larson, History of Wyoming (Lincoln;
University of Nebraska Press, 1965), 36-63.

" The Union Pacific started service from the east to Ogden in
March, 1869, and the Utah Central Railroad reached fi-om Ogden
to Salt Lake City in January of 1870. Deon C. Greer, et al.. Atlas of
Utah. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1981), 97.
^* Crofutt's Trans-continental Tourist. 6th vol., 5th annual rev.
(Mew York: Croftitt, 1874), 78, 80.

Winter 19QS

of rocks a thousand feet high, really overhang the cars,
as they speed along. On the other side the hills are
more sloping, and less rocky. A stream runs down the
canyon, the road crossing first to one side and then the
other. Every once in a while a side will appear, and in
it, can be seen all sorts of colored leaves. I noticed one
spot in particular. There was a clump of bright crimson
bushes meeting in a grove of dark & light yellow
Cottonwood. The effect of the contrast with the dark
and somber background was becnitiful. .Among the most
characteristic points in this canyon are Castle Rock
ami Pulpit Rock.^^ The latter I missed seeing, but the
former I had a glimpse of The rock arises in kind of
terraces, with corner turrets & pinnacles, to the height
of about 61)0 ft. from the track, ami on the veiy top, a
flagstaff had been planted. The likeness to a castle,
was truly very striking. We entered Echo Canyon
through II tunnel, .-it the terminus of it is Echo Cit\\
which looks like a very flourishing little place. ^^ We
passed quite a number of nice looking villages. The
land is cultivated with the aid of irrigation, so as to
produce wheat and all sorts of vegetables, f judge.
Shortly after leaving Echo Canyon we pass through a
narrow gorge— into Weber Canyon. The scenery in this
is much more curious and imposing than in Echo. The
canyon is more narrow, and the Weber River— a
tributary (f Bear river— which runs down the canyon
adds much to its beauty. ^' The rock at first is apparently
the same as that in Echo Canyon but it soon changes
in color from reddish to a dirty white or gray. The
Thousand .Mile Tree, we struck shortly after entering.

It is merely an old tree standing alone— with a sign
board on it to the effect that it is "The 1000 Mile Tree "
meaning 1000 miles from Omaha.^* But the most
remarkable thing in the whole canyon is the Devils
Slide. This consists of two upright walls of rock running
down a steep slope about 300 feet high— with a space
benveen of 4-6 feet. The walls are parallel through
their whole extent, and are of nearly ecpuil height
throughout. There are numbers of these parallel walls
about this neighborhood but this particular one is more
remarkable than the others, and this one has received
the name of the "Devils Slide. " Probably next in point
of interest is the "Devils Gate. " This is where the IVeber
cuts its way through a narrow passage in the rock,
bending around so as to make a letter S. The channel

-- Echo Canvon has red sandstone walls, at some points rising
1,000 feet, with many strange shapes carved. "On the canyon wall
... strata of light-colored conglomerate sandstone ... contain fossils
of Cretaceous plants. 55 to '*5 million years old." Writers" Program
of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Utah, i'uih: a
Guide to tlie State. American Guide Series (New York: Hastings
House. 1941), 356.

'" While the railroad was being constructed. Echo had saloons,
gambling halls, and brothels, and workers could disappear, never
to be heard from again. Ibid., 357. Crofiitt's Tran.s-continental
Tourist damns the town with this faint praise: "This city is not very
inviting unless \ou like to hunt and fish." (p. 7Q).

'" Some of the walls in the Weber Canyon rise to 4.000 feet. The
L'nion Pacific gave Mormon settlers through their leader Brigham
Young the contract for grading down both Echo and Weber Canyons
in 1868-1869. Utah: a Guide. 358.

'" Crofiitt's Trans-eoinmental Tourist's Guide identities the tree
as a pine and predicts optimistically that it is destined to be "an
index of the coming greatness of a regenerated country." (p. 94),

'■'':- >-^-Tei - rr' ■^.-^LcOj'-- ' Z.'^-;

Thc IVyoming His-
torical Landmarks
Commission pur-
chased the site of
Fort Bridger In 192S
and. three years
later, the commi.ssinn
established the his-
torical museum at the
site. On June 2.\
1933. an estimated
7.000 people at-
tended the dedication
ceremonies of Fort
Bridger as a state
historical landmark
and museum. This
photo, taken in the
early years of the
museum 's existence,
is undated.

Annals of Wyoming:Tlie Wyoming History Journal

of the river runs directly through apart of the mountain,
leaving a portion outside, about 50 feet high. It issues
from this passage with considerable velocity and goes
bubbling and boiling over the stones of its bed till it
soon again regains a quieter channel.^'' The R.R.
crosses the river on a bridge just after it leaves the
"gate. " Soon after this the mountains dwindle down
on the left, and the road enters the Salt Lake Valley,
soon reaching Ogden. There are several neat villages
in the canyon the principal of which is Weber where
there is quite an extensive plain. We arrived at Ogden
about 5 o 'clock by Cheyenne time and there changed
cars, for [Salt] Lake City. We reached the latter place
in 2 or 3 hours...

United States troops withdrew from Fort Bridger in
1878 but returned in 1880, largely because of Judge
Carter's influence. After his death in 1881, troop
strength fluctuated in response to perceived need.
Finally on November 6, 1 890 Fort Bridger ceased to
be a military post."" The judge's widow remained at
the fort, receiving title to it in 1896. When she died in
1904, the title passed among various Carter family
members until 1 928. Then a deed to the state was placed
in escrow until the purchase price could be paid. In
1933 the fort was dedicated as a Wyoming Historical
Landmark and Museum."'

Meanwhile, the Yale party made the most of a brief
stay in Salt Lake City. Although they were unsuccessflil
in their attempts to meet the great Mormon leader
Brigham Young, they saw a play starring Jean Lander
at the Salt Lake Theatre, heard the famous preacher
and politician Orson Pratt speak in the Mormon
Tabernacle, floated on the surface of the Great Salt
Lake, and had their photographs taken by the eminent
photographer Charles Roscoe Savage."- Leaving
October 6, they traveled to Oregon by way of Idaho,
passing through Boise and visiting Shoshone Falls on
the Snake River. This sight caused Lobdell to write
that October 7 was one of the most memorable days of
his young life.

By October 13 they were in Oregon. At Canyon City
Marsh had arranged to join his correspondent Thomas
Condon ( 1 822- 1 907 ), a Congregational clergyman and
later professor of geology at the University of Oregon."^
By November 9 Condon, whom Lobdell liked and
respected, had helped the men to uncover enough fossils
in the John Day Valley to fill eleven more boxes to
send back to Yale."^ This concluded the paleontological
work of the expedition, and for the remaining six weeks
the men were tourists. From Condon's home town, The
Dalles, they journeyed by Columbia River steamer to

San Francisco, arriving on November 27. Lobdell was
impressed with the city's charms. He was not excited
by his brief foray into Chinatown, but he enjoyed visits
to the famed Cliff House restaurant and was enchanted
by the flora and fauna of Woodward's Gardens."'

Lobdell left for Wilmington by train on December
1 2, a trip that turned out to be quite arduous on account
of heavy snowfall, especially in Wyoming. Such
snowfall there was not unusual. Later that winter. Major
La Motte wrote to his mother that Fort Bridger was
completely isolated for several weeks and ran low on
food supplies."" Reaching home on the morning of
December 23, Lobdell just missed the spectacular
December 22 opening ceremony for Wilmington's new
Masonic Temple and Grand Opera House, which his
family attended."'

Meanwhile, Professor Marsh and several others sailed
back by way of Panama, arriving home January 14.
The expedition had cost its participants close to

■'''' Crofutt's Trans-continental Tourist's Guide describes this as
a seething cauldron of waters." (p. 95).

'" EIHson, Fort Bridger — a Brief History. 56-59. For example,
in 1884 an Inspector General recommended leaving the fort because
of poor climate and lack of military necessity.

" Ibid., 72-73.

*■- For a biography of Brigham Young see Leonard J. Arrington,
Brigham Young: American Moses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1985). For a biography of Jean Lander ( 1 829- 1 903 ), the widow of
the Union general Frederick Lander and former child actress, see
William C. Young, Famous .Actors and Actresses on the American
Stage: Documents of American Theater History (New York:
Bowker, 1975), 2: 650-654. For a biography of Savage (1832-1909)
with many photographic reproductions, see Bradley W. Richards,
The Sa\>age View: Charles Sm'age, Pioneer Mormon Photographer
(Nevada City, Calif: Carl Mautz, 1995).

" For a full length biography of Condon see Robert D. Clark,
The Odyssey of Thomas Condon: Irish Immigrant. Frontier
Missionary. Oregon Geologist (Eugene: Oregon Historical Society
Press, 1989). For a more personal view, see Ellen Condon
McCornack, Thomas Condon: Pioneer Geologist of Oregon
(Eugene: University Press, 1928).

*■* Schuchert and LeVene, O. C. Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontology,
125.

'* For a history of the series of Cliff House restaurants see Ariel
Rubissow, Cliff House & Land 's End: San Francisco 's Seaside
Retreat (San Francisco: Golden Gate National Park Association,
1993). For a description of Woodward's Gardens, which were open
from 1 866- 1891, see Doris Muscatine, Old San Francisco: the
Biography of a City from Early Days to the Earthquake (New
York: Putnam, 1975), 232-233, 183, 340; "The Animals Must Go:
Woodward's Menagerie to be Declared a Public Nuisance," San
Francisco Examiner, May 30, 1 891 ; "Selling for a Song: Old Curios
at Woodward's Gardens," San Francisco Chronicle. April 7, 1893.

'■' La Motte Family Papers, La Motte to "Mother," Jan. 21 -Feb.
16, 1872.
"■^ Wilmington Daily Commercial, Dec. 23, 1871.

Winter 1998

$15,000.'''' Marsh had every right to feel a sense of
accomplishment, since the group had added many
specimens. In the John Day region alone they uncovered
many examples of the three-toed horse, Protohippus
and \eohipparion. which Marsh credited to Page,
Mead, Harger, and Lobdell.""

Marsh led several other western expeditions before
relying on others to collect his fossils for him. The 1 872
expedition visited Kansas and Wyoming and brought
back some excellent examples of toothed birds. That
year Marsh was caught in a huge, frightening but
exhilarating buffalo stampede, probably caused by the
party's hunting attempts.'" A larger party in 1873
worked in Nebraska, Wyoming (including Fort
Bridger), Idaho and Oregon, and sent back over five
tons of fossils, including many horses.

Work on the Peabody Museum began in 1874. After
initial reluctance. Marsh was lured to the Badlands of
South Dakota in the fall of 1874 by stories of fossil
finds. The Sioux refused permission to cross their
reservation at first, but the professor finally persuaded
Chief Red Cloud to let the group pass by promising to
bring complaints about dishonest government agents
to the President. Marsh relished the ensuing political
scandal that eventually brought about the resignation
of the Commissioner for Indian Affairs. In later years
the chief was Marsh's guest in New Haven."'

In 1882 Marsh became the first vertebrate
paleontologist of the U.S. Geological Survey. He served
as president of the National Academy of Sciences from
1883 to 1895. An unfortunate feud, however, was to
mar his record of achievement. Starting in the 1870s
and continuing for two decades, he and Edward Drinker
Cope (1840-1897), another distinguished paleontolo-
gist, carried on a rivalry which occasionally erupted
into acrimonious attacks against each other.'-

Marsh never married and lived alone in a grand
eighteen-room house decorated with art objects and
appropriateh, with western memorabilia. He died of
pneumonia in 1 899 after a few days' illness. He left his
entire estate to Yale University."

For his part, Lobdell followed the path that had been
laid out for him. In 1 872 he joined the family business,
the Lobdell Car Wheel Company, as a chemist. He took
on increasingly responsible positions, including serving
as Secretary and Treasurer from 1886 to 1894. From
1914 until a few months before his death in 1942, he
was the company's president.

In 1 882 the company expanded and moved to a new
site on the Christina River where, in addition to
carwheels, it made chilled rolls for paper machines and

flour mills. Later, in the 1 880s, the enterprise employed
more than 650 men.''' In 1904 it resisted a suit to make
it merge with the National Car Wheel Company. Failure
to shift from chilled iron to steel for wheels eventually
resulted in financial reverses.'^ In 1949 the company
was acquired by the United Engineering and Foundry
Company of Pittsburgh, which closed it in 1965.'^

Like his father before him, Lobdell was involved in
civic and charitable activities. For example, he served
for many years as president and benefactor of the
Minquadale Home, an old-age home founded by the
senior George Lobdell in 1891 in the former family
summer residence in Minquadale, just south of
Wilmington."

On the personal side, he married Eva WoUaston
( 1 857- 1 932 ), daughter of Joshua and Esther Wollaston
in 1878. The couple had five children. Three, George
Granville III (b. 1887), Edith (b. 1880) and Ethel (b.
1884), survived to adulthood.

Lobdell's grandson William W. Pusey 111 recalled
growing up in the family home at 1605 Broom Street,
where the widowed daughters Edith Pusey and Ethel
Seaman had returned with their children.'^ It was a
harmonious and well-run household. Lobdell professed
to be very happily married. Unexpectedly widowed,

-* Schiuchen and LeV'ene. O C .\farsh. Pioneer in Paleontology;
126.

"" Lull, "The ^■ale Collection of Fossil Horses," 4.

"" For Marsh's own account of this event, showing his zest for
rough excitement, see 'W Ride for Life in a Buffalo Herd," ed.
James Penick, Jr., American Heritage 21 (June 1970): 46-47. 77.
' Lanham. The Bone Hunters. 146-153.

"- For detailed discussions of their points of dispute, see Ibidr,
Elizabeth Noble Shor, The Fossil Feud Between ED Cope and
OC Marsh (Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition Press, 1974); and Robert
Plate, The Dinosaur Hunters: Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward
D- Cope (New York: David McKay, 1964).

'-' Schuchert and LeVene, O C Marsh. Pioneer in Paleontology:
330-354.

'■■ J. Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware. 1609-IS8S (Philadel-
phia: L.J. Richards, 1888; Westminster. Md.: Family Line
Publications, 1990), 2: 775-777.

'- Hoffecker, Wilmington. Delaware. 138, 159.

'^ W. Stewart .Allmond. interview by John Scafidi and Faith
Pizor, June 10 and July 1, 1969, transcription, Hagley Museum
and Library, Wilmington, Del., accession 2026.

" Obituary, Wilmington Journal-Every Evening. June 8, 1942;
Charter. By-laws. Rules and Regulations of Minquadale Home of
Wilmington. Delaware (Wilmington: John M. Rogers Press, 1896),
3-16; Nancy L. Mohr, Gilpm Hall, an Enduring Vision
(Wilmington: Gilpin Hall. 1994), 12-13.

* For background on the Pusey family and the family business
Pusey and Jones, see Mary Faith Pankin, "Charles W. Pusey's
Voyage to Trinidad and the Orinoco in 1890." Delaware History
26(1994): 20-51.

Annals of Wyoniing:The Wyoming History Journal

he was heard to exclaim about his marriage during these
sad last years, "'Married over fifty years — and never a
cross word!'"''*

He had one mild eccentricity. He would occasionally
retreat alone to his library to read, in French, his
collection of Balzac novels, then considered in
questionable taste.*" A family photograph of his
ninetieth birthday shows a venerable-looking bearded
gentleman blowing out a vast array of candles on his
celebratory cake.

Although Pusey did not recall his grandfather
speaking in detail about his part in the Yale expedition,
Lobdell did retain souvenirs of his explorations. In 1940
archeologists called upon him at his office in the hope
of recovering Paleolithic blades that had been lost after
being found in 1 882 by workers digging a slip for the
new car wheel works. He was able to help them in their
quest, speaking as well of his own collection of western
artifacts. One of the visitors described him charmingly
as follows:

Mr. Lobdell, who had then passed his ninetieth
birthday, was feeble, but his memory was clear.. ..He
seemed like a character from a Galsworthy novel as he
arose to greet us, stroking his long gray beard. In
faltering words he told us how the cache had been
found, and went on to say that from time to time other
stone articles had been dug up on the property.... When
we returned to the office, pausing once or twice on the
way back for the old gentleman to catch his breath, he
asked if we cared to see some of the mineral specimens
he had collected in his younger days while on a tour in
the West. ...The old gentleman pointed out a wooden
staircase leading to the unoccupied second floor of the
old oftlce building, but he remained behind after
excusing himself with polite dignity. We learned later
that because of his infirmity he had not climbed these
stairs in many years.*'

In a large cupboard the researchers found, along with
the blades they were seeking, carefully preserved
specimens of western quartz, crystal, petrified wood,
and other minerals. We can only guess at the seventy-
year-old memories that surrounded Lobdell after the
visitors departed: of Professor O. C. Marsh and his

expeditionary companions— now all dead— of Judge
Carter, Jack Robertson, the high spirited officers and
men of Fort Bridger, and of the small but honorable
role he himself had played in the history of American
paleontology. *-

" Eva Lobdell was also involved in civic-minded pursuits, such
as the Home for Aged Women and the New Century Club. Obituary,
Wilmington Evening Journal. Dec. 19, 1932. For a discussion of
the importance for elite women of the New Century Club, see
Hoffecker, Wilmington. Delaware. 145-146, 153; and Gail
Stanislow, "Domestic Feminism in Wilmington: the New Century
Club, 1889-1917, "Z)e/aM'a/-e//;i/on' 22(1986-1987): 158-185.

"> William W. Pusey III, interview, June 6, 1993.

" C. A. Weslager, Delaware's Buried Past: a Story of
Archaeological Ach'enture (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1944; NewBrunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, 1968),
107-108.

*- Lobdell had the distinction of being the oldest living graduate
of the Sheffield Scientific School from April 20, 1942, until his
death on May 7. "Obituary Record of Graduates Deceased During
the Year Ending July 1, 1942," Bulletin of Yale University 101
(1943):163.

Man' Faith Pankin is a graduate of Washburn
University ofTopeka. Kansas. In 1974. she earned
the M. L. S. degree fi-om the University of South
Carolina. Currently she is special collections cata-
loguer and senior subject specialist at Gelman Li-
brary, George Washington University in Washing-
ton, D. C. where she has worked since 1982. Prior
to that time, she was a librarian at the University
of Maryland. Marshall University, and the Uni-
versity of Virginia, Charlottesville. This is her first
article in Annals, but her works have been pub-
lished in various library and history journals.
George G Lobdell, Jr. , was the author 's great-
grandfather.

Book R

e Views

Edited hv Carl HallLer^

John Ford: Hollywood's Old Master. By Ronald L,
Davis. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
.TV + 395 pages. Illustrations, bibliography. Cloth.
$29.95: paper. $14.95.

Petulant .(ohn Ford asserted that "There is no secret about
directing, except good common sense and a belief in what
vou are doing"" (p. 4). Ford, a six-time Academy Award
winner for best director, was an enigma to his contempo-
raries in the film busmess and to film historians. This new
biography probes Ford's public and pri\ate lues to explain
why, despite notable success, his life was tilled with un-
happiness and inner turmoil. Da\ is pro\ ides a record about
the legendary and complex director using extensi\e inter-
views of people who knew and worked with Ford in the
motion picture industry.

Da\is traces Ford's life from his childhood in Maine,
where he was exposed to an Irish Catholic background, to
the early days of silent motion pictures in California, and
to his entn,- into sound motion pictures and fame. During
his early career. Ford directed many silent westerns in which
he learned how to be a "\ isualist" with the camera, relying
on action of the actors and the landscape, not the spoken
word, to transmit drama or meaning. His talents for telling
the grand historical accomplishments of America began to
develop that would later make him the dean of the Ameri-
can western and ele\ate this popular genre to epic great-
ness.

Ford directed more than sixty silent films, many of them
profit makers for the major studios that he worked for. With
the ad\ ent of sound Ford w as one of the few directors of
his day who made the transition to this new medium. His
career continued to prosper w ith his first Academy Award
in 193? for The /nfdnner and in 1940 for The Grapes of
Wrath. A proven success not only at the box office but one
judged by his peers. Ford's prominence as one of the domi-
nant directors in Hollywood became firmly established.

But Ford's turbulent life on and off the movie set did not
match his professional success. His cruel and strange be-
ha\ ior towards crew and actors became legendary'. Ford
had a disappointing family life with his wife and children
creating another confused aspect of his eccentric personal-
ity. When not working himself into a physical breakdown
with directing, he went on notorious drinking binges that
lasted for weeks until bed confinement sobered him up. It
was said that you either lo\ ed John Ford or hated him im-
mensely. Even to interview the man could become a har-
rowing experience for anyone not ready for his sarcastic
personality.

Ford's happiest days were during World War II while
serving in the Na\y . He found that the male-dominated mili-
tary life provided meaning and honor, something Holly-
wood could ne\er do. Ford asserted that his promotion to
admiral meant more to him than any of his .Academy
Awards.

Da\is chronicles all of Ford's movies. Some are exam-
ined in-depth while others have little or no analysis at all.
This unevenness of interpretation demonstrates Davis's
deficiency of not being a film historian. If one is seeking a
full delineation of Ford's film, this book will not pro\ide
that. This biography also fails to explain the man .lohn
Ford. Davis's tenuous conjecture that Ford suppressed a
homosexual nature, causing his peculiar personality, is just
theop,' and lacks any documented evidence. This kind of
narrative prompts the reader to question any appraisal of
Ford's life in Da\ is's book. Documentation is also surpris-
ingly missing, with no end notes or bibliography. There is
a bibliographical sources listing, which is totally inadequate
for any corroboration or future research. This type of his-
torical work is not only annoying, but troubhng for the fu-
ture of professional historical writing.

On the positive side, Davis's abundant use of anecdotes
about Ford's character and life paints a man of baffiing
proportions. A more concise account about John Ford,
though, is still to be written that will illuminate the life of
this troubled genius.

Hey ward Schrock
Wyoming State Museum

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Recent Acquisitions in the Hebard Collection, UW Libraries

Compiled by Tamsen L. Hert, UW Libraries

The Grace Raymond Hebard Wyoming Collection is a branch of the University of Wyoming Libraries housed in the
Owen Wister Western Writers Reading Room in the American Heritage Center. Primarily a research collection, the core
of this collection is Miss Hebard's personal library which was donated to the university libraries. Further donations have
been significant in the development of this collection. While it is easy to identify materials about Wyoming published
by nationally known publishers, it can be difficult to locate pertinent publications printed in Wyoming. The Hebard
Collection is considered the most comprehensive collection on Wyoming in the state.

If you have any questions about these materials or the Hebard Collection, contact Tamsen Hert by phone at (307) 766-
6245; by email, thert@uwyo.edu or access the Hebard HomePage at; http://www.uwyo.edu/lib/heb.htm.

Adams, Gerald M. Fort Francis E. Warren and the Quar-
termaster Corps in World War II, 1940 to 1946. Cheyenne:
the author, 1994 [Fort Collins: Old Army Press: Citizen
Printing]. Hebard & Coe UA 26 .W3 A33 1994

Historical Archaeology at the Wagon Box Battlefield
(485H129) Sheridan and Johnson Counties. Wyoming.
[Laramie, WY?: Office of the Wyoming State Archaeolo-
gist?, 1997. Hebard & Coe F 763 .H58 l997

Adare, Sierra. Jackson Hole Uncovered. Piano, TX: Sea-
side Press, 1997 Hebard & Coe F 767 .T28 A33 1997

Astorian Adventure: The Journal of Alfred Seton, 1811-
1815. Edited by Robert F. Jones. New York: Fordham Uni-
versity Press, 1993. Hebard F 884 .A8 S48 1993

Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region. NY:
W.W. Norton, 1997 Hebard, CoeRef, G 1380 .A74 1997

Howell, Elijah Preston. The 1849 California Trail Diaries
of Elijah Preston Howell. Edited by Susan Badger Doyle
and Donald E. Buck. Independence, MO: Oregon-Califor-
nia Trails Association, 1995
Hebard & Coe F 593 .H85 1995

Innis, Ben. Bloody Knife: Custer's Favorite Scout. Rev.
ed. Bismarck, ND: Smoky Water Press, 1994.
Hebard & Coe E 99 .A8 B554 1994

Bassett, Agnes Reed. The Innocent Out West. Seattle, WA:
Peanut Butter Publishing, 1994. Hebard & Coe F 767 .T28
B37 1994

The Bruce's Bridge Site (48FR3305): 8000 Years of Pre-
history in Sinks Canyon. Wyoming. Laramie: Office of the
Wyoming State Archaeologist, Wyoming Department of
Commerce, 1995. Hebard E 78 .W95 B78 1995

Brucellosis. Bison. Elk. and Cattle in the Greater
Yellowstone Area: Defining the Problem. Exploring Solu-
tions. Cheyenne: WY: Published for the Greater
Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee by the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 1997.
Hebard, Science & JacRes SF 809 .B8 B78 1997

News of the Plains and Rockies. 1803-1865: Original Nar-
ratives of Overland Travel and Adventure Selected From
the Wagner-Camp and Becker Bibliography of Western
Americana. Volume 3, E: Missionaries, Mormons, 1821-
I864;F. Indian Agents, Captives, 1832-1865. Spokane, WA:
Arthur H. Clark Company, 1997.
Hebard & Coe F 591 .W67 1996 v.3

Popovich, Charles W. Sheridan, Wyoming: Selected His-
torical Articles. Sheridan, WY: C.W. Popovich, 1997.
Hebard & Coe F 769.SS P666 1997

Sellars, Richard West. Preserving Nature in the National
Parks, a Histoty. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Hebard & Science SB 482 .A4 S44 1997

Cox, Beverly. Spirit of the West: Cooking From Ranch
House and Range. New York: Artisan, 1996
Hebard & Science TX 715.2 .W47 C68 1996

Shumway, Hyrum Smith. Autobiography of Hyrum Stnith
Shumway. [Cheyenne, WY: H.S. Shumway, 1995?]
Hebard F 76 1.S478 1995

Grant, H. Roger. The North Western: a History of the Chi-
cago & North Western Railway System. DeKalb, IL: North-
em Illinois University Press, 1996.
Hebard & Coe HE 2791 .C632 G7 1996

Hill, William E. Finding the Right Place: The Story of the
Mormon Trad: An Educational Activity Book. Indepen-
dence, MO: Oregon-California Trails Association, 1996.
Hebard F 593 .H552 1996

Smith, Greg. 700 Great Rail-Trails: A National Directory.
Washington: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, 1995
Hebard & Coe GV 199.4.S64 1995

Webber, Bert. Fort Laramie: Outpost on the Plains.
Medford, OR: Webb Research Group Publishers, 1995.
Hebard & Coe F 769 .F6 W43 1995

Winter 1998

Ind

Alcohol, 32, 40

Allemand, Joe. 3

"American Murder Ballads," 20

Antelope, hunting, 36

Antler Hotel (Newcastle), 2

Atwood, Miss -, post governess, 32

"Ballad of Nate Champion," 15, Ib-l^*

musical score, 18
Ballads, Johnson County War, 13-24

listed, 15
Banner, Wyoming, 24
Barber, Gov. Amos, 15
Beck, George T., 5
Benton, Wxoming, 26
Black's Fork, 38
Blair, Henry A., 16
"Blood-Stained Book," (song), 15, 17,

musical score, 20
Bonney. Jonathan, 26
Bordeaux, James, 8
Bridger, James, 28
Brown, Mabel, 6
Brunot, Felix, 10-11

recommends Mills, 11
Buffalo, Wvoming, 2
Bullock, William G., 7, 8, 9
Burden, Lorenzo, 4-5
Bums, Patrick, 22, 23
Burt, Olive Wooley, quoted, 16, 20, 21, 22
Burt, Struthers, quoted, 17
Burton, Sir Richard, 31
Bush, Charles, 26
C

Cambria Fuel Co.. 2
Campbell, Robert, 10, quoted, 9
Canton, Frank, 14-15, 16, 21,22
Canyon City, Oregon, 42
Carbon Countv, livestock in, 3-4
Carter, Judge William A., 29, 31, 32, 40

purchases in store owned by, 32

Steinway piano of, 32
Castle Rock, 41
Chamberlain, Fannie, 3
Champion, Nate, 14-20, 23; (photo, 16)

diary, 16, (quoted, 18)

funeral, 23
Church Buttes, 38
Clark, Gibson, 8

administers Mills estate, 12
Clift, Capt. — , 32, 40
Clover, Samuel Travers, 16
Coal mining, 3
Cody, William F., 28
Cody, Wyoming, founding of, 5
Cokeville, Wvomine, 3

Condon, Thomas, 42

Cope, Edward Drinker, 43

Davis, Ronald L., "John Ford: Hollvwood's

Old Master," reviewed, 45
Deer hunting, 37
Dereemer, Charlie, 4
Devil's Slide, 41
Devoe, C. M., 17
Devoe, Clark, 1 7
Devoe, Daniel L., 17, 24
Devoe, Hank, 1 7
Dillinger, Jim, 2
Dinosaurs, 25-44

Dodge, Gen. Granville M., sketch by, 27
Downing, .Ariel A., author, 13-24
Dubois, John Jay, 28, 29, 31, 32-34, 35, 37,

38, 39, 40
Dumbrill, Fern, 4
E

Echo Canyon, 40, 4 1
Episcopal Church (Buffalo), 2
Episcopal Church (Laramie), inside back
Evanston, Wyoming, 4-5
F
Fires

forest, 37

Newcastle, 3
Fimekas, Maggie, 17
Fishing, 37
Flagg, Jack, 1 5

Flannery, L. G. "Pat," quoted, 12
Fort Bridger, 25, 28-29, 39, 40-42; (photo,

25), (sketch, 27)

Hayden visit to, 29

location described, 30

officers at, 39

state historic site, 42, (photo, 41 )
Fort Laramie, 8

society at, 9
Fort Laramie Treaty, 8; (photo), 7
Fossils. 25, 37, 39, 42
G

Gamer, .\rchie and Obed. 1 7
"George G. Lobdell, Jr., and the \'ale

Scientific Expedition of 1871 at Fort

Bridger." by Mar> Faith Rankin, 25-44
Gieseking, Marion W., inside back cover
Golden Rule store, 4-5
Grant, U. S., meets Indians, 10
Grant Peacy Policy, 9-10
Great Depression, 6
Green Mountains, 4
Grizzly Buttes, 33, 38
Guerrier, William, 8
H

Hadsell, Kleber, 3-4
Harger, Oscar, 28, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43
Harriman, Mrs. E. H., inside back cover
Harvey, Mark E., (quoted), 21
Hayden, Charles, 5
Hayden, Ferdinand V. , 29
Hearn, Thomas Charles, 3

Hebard Collection, additions to, 46
Hert, Tamsen L., compiler, 46
Homsher, Lola, 5
Hom, Tom, 4

Home, Robert C, inside back cover
"House of Blazes" (Newcastle), 3
Hunting, 36-37
Hunton, John, 8

problems with Mills estate, 12

Indian agent, appointment of 9

Indian commission, 10

"Invasion Song," 15, 21, (lyrics, 21)

Jackson, Wyoming, earlv settlement

near, 5

Janis, Antoine, 8

"John Ford; Hollywood's Old Master,"

review of, 45
Johnson, Jessie, 4
Johnson County War (Invasion), 5-6;

1 3-24
Johnson County Public Librarv, 22, 23
Jones, Orley "Ranger," 14,

song about murder of 22, 23
K

KC Ranch, 15
Keasbey, George Mcculloch, 28, 30, 3 1 ,

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
KFBU Radio, inside back cover
L

LaMotte, Maj. Robert Smith, 29, 3 1 , 32,

39, 40, 42
Lander, Jean, 42
Larson, Magnus, 4
Lawrence, Charles, 2
Laws, Malcolm, quoted, 16, 20
Lewis, John L., 3
Lohdell, Adeline Wheeler, 25, 39
Lobdell. Carrie, 35, 36, 39
Lobdell, Florence Delano, 28
Lobdell, George G.. Jr., 25-44

(photo, 26)

children of 43

death of 44

described, 44
Lobdell, George Gran\ille, 25. 43
Lobdell Car Wheel Companv, 25, 26,

43
Lovell, Wyoming, 5
Luschei, Martin, (author). 7-12
M
Marsh, Othniel Charles, 25, 26-27, 29,

31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42,

43, (photo, 33)
Mason, Alfred Bishop, 28, 29, 30, 34,

35, 36, 37

Mattes, Merrill J. , quoted, 9
Maverick Law, 14
May, Henry, 5

McGillycuddy, Valentine T., 8
Mead, Frederick, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 38,
39, 40, 43

Annals oi Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

Millersville. 38

Mills, Anna, 9

Mills, Benjamin Buckner. 7-12

problems with estate of, 12

ranching career, 1 0

recommended for Indian agent, 10
Mills, Benjamin B., Jr., 12
Mills, Billy, 12
Mills, Emma, 9
Mills, Lucie, 12
Mills, Sally No Fat, 9, 12
Mills, Thomas, 9
Moccasins, purchase of, 31
Mormon War, 28
Mosasaurs, 27
Moss agates, 38
"Murder of Tisdale and Jones," (ballad),

15, 22-23. (lyrics. 22)
Murray, - . 40
"Music as Artifact: The Johnson County

War Ballads." 13-24
N

Newcastle. Wyoming, 2-3, 4
No Fat. Sally. 9
O

Old Man Afraid of His Horses. 8
Oliver, Helen, 2-3
Olson, James C, quoted, 1 1
Oral history, 2-6

"Our Heroes' Grave" (ballad), 15
P
Page, Joseph French. 28, 29, 30, 34, 36.

38. 39, 43
Panama, 42

Pankin, Mary Faith, (author), 25-44
Peabody Museum (Yale), 25, 43
Peck, Theodore Gordon, 28, 29, 30, 34,

36, 37, 38, 39

Penney, J. C, 4-5

Pine Ridge reservation, 12

Pratt, Orson, 42

Pterodactyl, 27, 28

Pusey, William W., Ill, 43-44

Quakers, 9

Quigley, John Franklin, 25, 31, 32, 34,

35,36,37,38,39,40
Quigley, Philip, 25, 36
R

Radio, inside back cover
Ray, Nick, 15

fiineral, 23
Red Bear, 8
Red Cloud, 7, 8, 43

role in agent appointment, 9
Red Cloud Agency, 1 1
Robertson, John "Jack," 31. 35, (photo, 31)
Roche. — , 40
Rock Springs, Wyoming, 3
Rogers, Lt. — , 39, 40
S

Sage hens, 30, 36
Salt LakeCit>', 41. 42
San Francisco, 42
Savage, Charles Roscoe, 42
Schrock, Hev'Nsard, reviewer, 45
Shonsey, Mike, 5
Shoshone Falls, 42
Smalley, Ed, 4

Smith, Helena Huntington, quoted, 24
Snow, 42

Spotted Tail Agency, 1 1
Spring Creek raid, 3
Stevens, Rolland W., 4
Strikes, labor, 3
Suiter, post, 8

T. Clarkson Taylor Academy, 25

TA Ranch, 15

Taylor, Alonzo, 15

Teton County, 5

Thomas, Bishop N, S., inside back cover

Thornton. Wyoming, 4

Thorp, Russell, 5-6

Thousand Mile tree, 41

Tillett, Bessie, 5

Tisdale. John A., 14, 22-23

ballad about murder of, 22-23
Townsend, Ethel, 3
Twiss, Thomas, 8
U-V

Lite Indians, 30
Vasquez, Louis, 28
W-X
"Wanted — By Whom? Ben Mills as Indian

Agent." by Martin Luschei. 7-12
Ward, Seth, 8
Weber River. 41. 42
Wham, John W., 1 1
Whist, 34

White, Leiand, 16-17
Whittlesey, Col. Charles H., 31, 32
Wilmington, Delaware, 25-26, 42
Wolcott, Frank, 14, 15
Wollaston, Eva, 43
Worland, Wyoming, 3
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, 14
Y

Yale Sheffield Scientific School. 25, 26
Yale University, 25
Z
Ziegler, Harrv' Degen, 28, 29, 30, 34, 36,

38, 39, 40, (photo, 28)

Join tne Wyoming State Historical Society....
and your local nistorical society cnapter

State Membership Dues:

Single: $20

Joint: S30

Student (under age 21): $15

Institutional: $40

Benefits of membership include four issues
per year of Annals of Wyoming, ten issues of
the newsletter, "Wyoming History News," and
the opportunity to receive information about
and discounts for various Society activities.

Special membership categories are available:

Contributing: $100-249

Sustaining: $250-499

Patron: $500-999

Donor: $1,000 +

The Society also welcomes special gifts and

memorials.

For information about membership in the Wyo-
ming State Historical Society and information
about local chapters, contact

Judy West, Society Coordinator
1740H184 Dell Range Blvd.
Cheyenne WY 82009

Wyoming Pictures

Marion IT. Gieseking (left), radio engineer, and Robert C. Home, executive .secretary to Bishop .V. 5.
Thomas of the Episcopal Church, are shown in the broadcast studio of Wyoming's first radio station.
KFBL Laramie. The station first went on the air Nov. 5. J 922. when the station equipment ^\•as used to
contact officials about a train wreck while other tnecms of communication were inoperative due to a
severe blizzard. It was a one-time broadcast, however. The 25-watt station began to broadcast regularly
beginning with the Feb. 17. 1 924. Sunday church services. The station was expanded with finds provided
by Mrs. E. H. Harriman. widow of the Union Pacific Railroad board chairman, after Bishop Thomas told
her about the station 's role in the 1 922 snowstorm and how it may have saved the lives of railroad crews.
A young radio technician was electrocuted while installing the new more powerful equipment. .After 1 926.
the station, located in the basement of the Cathedral in Laramie, broadcast a ikulv weather forecast at
12:30 p.m.. along with regular church programs. Strapped for funds in 1927. the church entered into a
joint operating agreement to broadcast University of Wyoming events. Gieseking. pictured above, was
responsible for setting up the first "remote broadcast " of a state football championship when the station
broadcast Worland 's 1 9-0 victor^^ over Chevenne on a neutral field in Douglas in 1 92 7 . Following Bishop
Thomas ' resignation and changes in radio broadcasting rules, the call letters were changed to KIVYO
with the university serving as the primary owner. Lack ofnwnev caused the station to close permanently
in 1 929. The stoiy of the station was told in "Top of the World Broadcasts: Wyoming 's Early Radio. " by
Howard Lee Wilson. .Annals of Wyoming. Spring. 1971. (Division of Cultural Resources photograph)

nnais o

Is of

WYOMING

Tne ^(^omin^ History Journal

Vol. 70, No. 2

Spring 1998

pecial Issue

rails Across TX^oming

About me Cover Art

''John 'Portiigee' Phillips' Ride"

The painting bv Dave Paul ley. reproduced on the cover of this issue, depicts the most
famous ride in Wyoming history. Phillips was a civilian en route to the goldfields of
Montana on the Bozeman Trail. He was at Fort Phil Kearny when, on Dec. 21. 1866.
Capt. William Fetterman and 81 other men were killed by Indians near the fort.
Phillips was one of two civilian volunteers sent to Fort Laramie for reinforcements in
the wake of the disaster. After riding some 235 miles, mostly through winter storms.
Phillips arrived at Fort Laramie about 10 p.m.. on Christmas night, four davs and
nights after leaving Fort Phil Kearny. The painting is part of the centennial collec-
tion commissioned by the Wyoming State Historical Society- in the 1980s. The map
on the back cover slwivs the major trails across Wyoming. Suzanne Luhr, TRC Mariah
Associates, created the map specially for this issue.

The editor of .-iniiu/s of Wyoming welcomes manuscripts and photographs on ever>' aspect of the histor}- of Wyoming and the West.
Appropriate for submission are unpublished, research-based articles which provide new information or which offer new interpreta-
tions of historical events, first-person accounts based on personal experience or recollections of events will be considered for use in
the "Wyoming Memories" section. Articles are reviewed and referecd b\ members of the journal's Editorial Advison Board and
others. Decisions regarding publication are made b\ the editor. Manuscripts (along \\ ith suggestions for illustrations or photographs)
should be submitted on computer diskettes in a format created by one of the wideK-used word processing programs along with two
printed copies. .Submissions and queries should be addressed to liditor. Annals of ll'yomini;. P. O. Box 4256. Uni\ersit\ Station,
Laramie WY 82071.

Utor

il RoLerts

lOK Re\new Eaitor

^rlHallterg

I litorial Ad\'isor\' Board

rtara BotJart, Evanston
itel Brown, Newcastle
cKael J, Devine, Laramie
nes B. Gririitli, jr., Cneyenne
m HoQgson, Torriritlton
ran Jost, Riverton
.Lvia Katnlea, Roclc ?prins^>
'A. Larson, Laramie
in D. McDermott, Sneriaan
lliam H. Moore, Laramie
sryl RoDD, Cneyenne
:ierry L. Smitn, Moose
:iomas F. Stroocic, Casper
, wrence M. Wooas, Worlana

TOming State Historical Society
iDucations Committee

■ ck Eu-ig, Laramie
j ivia Katnka, Roclc Springs
: ierr\' L. Smith, Moose
I ny Lawrence, Laramie
incy Curtis, Glenao
' tty Myers, Wneatland (ex-onicio)
j >ren Jost, Riverton (ex-oiticio)
I lil Rotterts, Laramie (ex-orricio)

liyomiiig State Historical Society
I iecutive Committee

I tt>' Myers, President, \Clieatlanci
I len Morris, Kemmerer
\ ike Joraing, Newcastle
I naa FaLian, Cneyenne
j arna GruDD, Green River

irtara Bogart, Evanston
I ck Eu-ig, Laramie
I Tiy Lawrence, Laramie

icL Wilder, Cody

ovemor oi Wyoming

11 Lieringer

yoniing' Dept. or Commerce

ene Br^'an, Director

aryl Rodd, Administrator, Div, or Cultural

sources

yoming' Parks & Cultural Resources
onimissioii

'iiliam Did>ois, Cneyenne
icnael ]. Devine, Laramie
iann Reese, Lyman
Dsie Berger, Big Horn
. Byron Price, Cody
ero French, Newcastle
-ankTim Isaoell, Snosnoni
anne Hickey, Cneyenne
ale Kreycik, Douglas

niversity oi Wyoiiiing

nilip Dubois, President

.icnael ]. Devine, Director,

American Heritage Center

'liver Walter, Dean,

College or Arts and Sciences

Mliam H. Moore, Chair, Dept. or History

^ Mnals of

WYOMING

I - '"' ; Tne Wyoming History Journal

_-::.-..--■-..- Spring 1QQ8 \ol. 70, Xo. 2

i!;i'

Special Trails Issues j

OCT 51998

iUiiL

Tke Bozeman Trail, 1863-1868 " '

Bv Susan Badger Doyle 3

Tne Bricl^er Trail: /Vn iVltemative Route to tne Oola
Piclcls OI Montana rerritory in 1864

By James A. Lowe 12

Enigmatic Icon: Tne Lire ana Times oi Harry Yount

By \(uliani R. Supernaugn 2-k

GolclilocRs Revisited

By Rosemary Li. Palmer 31

BooU Revie'ws

Eclited by Carl 1 lallterg 41

Recent Acquisitions in tne Hebara Collection, I vT Libraries

Lonipilecl dv Limsen L. Hert 44

Index 46

Wyoming' Picture Inside Bacb

Annals of Wyoming The Wyoming Hislon' Journal is published quarter!) b\ the W \oming Stale Historical
Society in association with the Wyoming Department of Commerce, the American Heritage Center, and the
Department of History. University of Wyoming. The journal was previously published as the Ouarrerly
Bulletin (\92i-\925). Annals o/Wyoming{l925-\9'^3,). Wyoming Annals (\99}-\99S) and Wyoming His-
lory Journal {\99^-\99(}) The Annalshas been the official publicition ofthe Wyoming State Historical
Society since 1953 and is distributed as a benefit of membership to all society members Membership dues
are; single. $20. joint. $30; student (under 21). $15. institutional. $40. contributing. $100-249; sustaining.
$250-499; patron. $500-999. donor. $1,000^-. To join, contact \our local chapter or write to the address
below. Articles \n Annals ofll'yoming me abstracted in Historical Ahslracis and America Hisloiy and Life -

Editorial correspondence and inquiries about reprints and back issues should be addressed to the editorial
office of Annals of Wyoming. American Heritage Center. P O Box 4250. University Station. Laramie W^'
82071 , Inquiries about membership and distribution should be addressed to Judy West. Coordinator. Wyo-
ming State Historical Society . 1 740H 1 84 Dell Range Blvd . Chc\ enne WY 82009.

ISSN: 1086-7368

special Trails Issue

Tkree articles in tnis issue relate to emigrant trails across Wyoming.
Susan Badger Doyle, recognized autnority on tne Bozeman Trail, descrines
tne trail and its various routes used ny goldseekers and otners rrom 1863 to

1858.

James A. Lowe writes about tne Bridger Trail. Lowe's mll-lengtn
monograpn on tne Bridger Trail was punlisned recently by Artbur Clark and
Lompany.

Rosemar}'^ G. Palmer explains bow tbe "Goldilocks mytb " evolved from
Oregon Trail stories. Palmer's doctoral dissertation, rrom wbicb tnis article
is derived, examines tbe lives and memories ol cbildren wbo traveled tbe
trail.

A tourtb article in tbis special series, a bistory oi tbe Overland (Cbero-
kee) Trail, will appear in a ruture issue ol Annals.

William R. Supernaugb is autbor ol tbis issue's "Wyoming People"
teature. Tbe subject is well-known Yellowstone gamekeeper Harry Yount.
Our usual book review section, ably edited by Carl Hallberg, contains re-
views ol several recent books about Western bistory. Also, Tami Hert pro-
vides anotber in tbe series ol bibliograpbies ol Wyoming and Western items
now available at tbe University ol Wyoming s Coe Library.

Annals still seeks submissions lor tbe "Wyoming Memoi-ies " leature.
II you, a Iriend or member ol your lamily wisbes to write a lirst-pei'son
reminiscence ol some aspect ol Wyoming bistory, give me a call or write me
about your proposal. Tbis leature is an opportunity tor readers to gain, lirst-
band, inlormation about tbe bistory ol tbe state tbat can come Irom no-
wbere but Irom tbe band ol tbe person wbo was tbere. Previous "Wyoming
Memories " bave included accounts ol tbe grassbopper scourge in nortbeast-
ern Wyoming in tbe 1930s, tbe "blizzard ol 1949, " and oral bistory ac-
counts ol Wyoming pioneers.

Write us.

Pbil Roberts, Editor

THE BOZEMAIV TRAHv,
1868-1808

1>y Sus»aii Badi^ei* Doyle

The Bozeman Trail began as an emigrant gold-
rush trail. First attempted in 1863, it was
opened in 1 864 as a shortcut from the main Platte over-
land road to the Montana goldtlelds and was closed
four years later as a consequence of the 1868 Fort
Laramie Treaty. Its five-hundred-mile route left the
Nonh Platte River at three different places between Fort
Laramie and Casper, went northwest across the Pow-
der River Basin along the eastern base of the Big Horn
Mountains, crossed ti:e Big Horn River just below the
canyon, went up the Yellowstone River Valley, and
entered the Gallatin Valley in through Bozeman Pass.

From the beginning, the Bozeman Trail had the po-
tential to become a major link between the central o\'er-
land road on the Platte Ri\ er and the burgeoning settle-
ments in Montana. It was shorter and more direct than
the main routes, it was well-watered, and it proved to
be a good wagon road. But there was one major prob-
lem. It went through the Powder River Basin, the re-
gion east of the Big Horn Mountains occupied and con-
tested by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. The
Bozeman Trail was an emigrant trail for only one year,
and then a military campaign followed by military oc-
cupation transfomied it from a civilian road to Mon-
tana Territory into an exclusively military road to Forts
Reno, Phil Kearny, and C. F. Smith. Consequently,
although the Bozeman Trail was the last great western
emigrant trail, it became popularly known as the
"Bloody Bozeman," the military road that initiated the
Indian wars on the Northern Plains.

The routes of the Bozeman Trail are more accurately
a series of segments that w ere interwoven, in places
overlapping, in a dazzling airay of continual change.

How, when, and why the routes of the Bozeman Trail
changed embodies the fascinating story of the frontier
process. As an integral part of American western ex-
pansion, the trail's routes resulted from the interaction
of the emigrant experience, frontier boosterism, terri-
torial politics, evolving U.S. -Indian relations, and the
tragic consequences of military intervention. More-
over, the ph_\sieal routes of the trail can only be accu-
rately and precisely detennined by examining the tra\ el
diaries written by Bozeman Trail travelers.'

The story of the Bozeman trail begins in 1863.
At the beginning of the year in Bannack in the
Beaverhead Valle\. two opportunistic frontier entre-
preneurs realized the potential advantages of a shorter
route to the new ly discovered goldfields. .lohn Bozeman
and John .lacobs have been described as partners in the
venture to open a new road, but in actuality, Bozeman
had the broader vision and w as the leader, w bile .lacobs.
ostensibly the guide, soon dropped from historical \ iew .
As a result, today .lacobs has been all but forgotten and
Bozeman is legendary.

In March John M. Bozeman, John M. Jacobs, and
Jacobs's young daughter Emma started east from
Bannack to scout a shorter route from the Platte road

' To provide the dociiiiientation needed to determine tlie routes
ofthe Bozeman Trail, the full texts of thin> -three diaries and remi-
niscences by travelers in the trail's formative period will be pub-
lished in an annotated collection; Susan Badger Doyle, ed.. Jour-
neys tu the Lund of Gold: Travelers on the Bozeniati Trail. lSf>5-
1S66. 2 vols. (Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, forth-
coming). Only a few ofthe source documents to be included in the
book are cited in this article.

Annals of Wyoming;Tke Wyoming Historj' Jour

Map by Suzanne Lulu; TRC Mariah Associates

Spring 199S

to the mining camps. -^ The\ were next seen on May 1 1
on the east banl< of the Big Horn River by .lames Stuart's
prospecting pai1> on the west bani<. it is not Ivnown
how the Bozeman partx got there, but during the two
months since lea\ ing Bannack. they ma_\ lia\ e explored
the Big Horn Basin as a possible route and ruled it out.
When they realized they had been seen, Bozeman and
Jacobs fled from the prospectors, thinking they were
Indians. A couple days later they encountered an In-
dian war part\ . w horn they each later variously identi-
fied as Sioux or Crow . The Indians took their belong-
ings but let them go with three broken-down ponies.
As the Bozeman pailv' continued southward, they prob-
ably followed \isible Indian trails.' They reached the
small militar\ and trading post at Deer Creek on the
south side of the North Platte River at the end of May.

Bozeman and Jacobs set up a camp near the settle-
ment at Deer Creek to recruit a train to lead o\ er their
new route to the Beaxerhead Valle\. By early Juh.
they had attracted a relati\ el\ small number of emi-
grants from the massi\e 1863 migration. On Jul_\ 6 a
train of forty-six wagons and eight\ -nine men. some
with families, left the Deer Creek camp, guided by
Bozeman. Jacobs, and local resident Rafael Gallegos.^
The emigrants considered all three men to be their
guides, but most likeK Gallegos, the one most familiar
with the region, was the actual guide.

The Bozeman train crossed to the north side of the
North Platte Ri\er and turned otYthe north-side emi-
grant road about three miles w est of Deer Creek. They
traveled northwest on an Indian trail to the head of
today's Salt Creek. The> continued down the dr>- bed
of Salt Creek to the Powder Ri\er. This route from
Deer Creek to the Powder Ri\er was surveyed in 1860
by J. D. Mutton, the topographer with the C S. Arm\
Corps of Engineers' 1 859- 1 86U expedition that explored
the Yellowstone drainage, commanded by Captain
William F. Raynolds and Lieutenant Henr\ E.
Maynadier.^

Hutton noticed se\ eral Indian trails in the region btit
wrote that the trail going down the bed of Salt Creek
was the best one when the creek was dry. He described
two fords at the Powder River, noting the upper ford
about two hundred yards above the mouth of Salt Creek
was the best. He reported the abandoned Portuguese
houses were three miles due west of the upper ford.
On his return to the North Platte, he crossed an old
lodge trail on the divide which appeared to keep a west-
erly course toward the \ icinit\ of Richard's Bridge,
east of Casper. This was likel\ the trail traversed by
the 1864 Bozeman Trail trains.

.After crossing the Powder River. Bozeman 's train
went up the north side about ten miles and turned up
the east side of North Fork Powder River about fi\e
miles to where the fork bends westward. Lea\ing the
North Fork, the train went generally north o\er rolling
hills, along the base of the Big Horn mountains. Their
route was man\ miles west of the militar\ route of the
trail opened in 1865. This earlier route approximates
that of U.S. Highwa\' 87 between K.a>cee and Buffalo.

On July 20 the train crossed Clear Creek just east of
Buffalo, went north about foiu' miles, and camped on
Rock Creek, about 140 miles from Deer Creek. A large
part\ of Che>enne and some Sioux wamors came to
the corral and confronted the emigrants, threatening to
kill them if they continued on. .After discussing their
options and sending messengers back to Deer Creek
for military assistance, the train returned to the main
o\ erland road. Their route went up Middle Fork Pow-
der Ri\ er and then w ent south through Red Wall coun-
tr\ and across the divide to the overland road. Their
route was virtually identical to Raynolds's route in fall
1 859. Both parties reached the o\ erland road near Red
Buttes, a few miles west of Casper. .At the same time
the train was tra\ eling tov\ard the main road. Bozeman
and nine companions on horseback took a more direct
route across the mountains to the Montana settlements.

' The best works to date on John Bozeman and the opening of
the trail are Merrill G. Burlingame. John M Bozenicin: Montana
Trailmaker {\94\. 1*571; Bozeman: Museum of the Rockies. Mon-
tana State University. l983):and.lohn S. Gra\." Blazing the Bridget
and Bozeman Trails,'" Annals of iVyomini; 4'^) (Spring 1977): 2.'^-
51.

.A map showing Indian trails in the Powder Ri\er Basin is in
Margaret Brock Hanson, ed.. PomJci- River Counin (Che\enne:
Frontier Printing. l'>71), 6.

' Diarists Samuel Word and Cicero Card provide detailed infor-
mation for the route of the 1863 Bozeman-.lacohs train; Samuel
Word. Diary, SC 284. Montana Historical Society. Helena; pub-
lished in Contributions to the Montana Histoneal Soeiet}' 8 ( I ') 1 7 ):
37-92; and Cicero Card. Diary. MSS. CC-53, Clarke Historical
Librar\, Central Michigan University. Mount Pleasant.

.Mthough the reports were not published until 1868. the
\ellov\stone expedition immensely intluenced the routes of the
Bozeman and Bridger Trails. particularl\ because .lim Bridger was
the chief guide. For Hutton's survey of the Salt Creek route, see J.
D. Hutton. "Reconnoissance for a Wagon Road from the Platte to
Powder River." in W. F. Raynolds. Report on the Exploration of
the Yellowstone River. 1 859-60. (40th Cong., 2d sess.. 1868. S. Ex.
Doc. 77, Serial 1317). 170-74. Maynadier was so impressed with
the potential for a road through the area that he published a pam-
phlet in 1864 essentially describing the Bozeman Trail; Henry E.
Maynadier. Memoir of the Coimtiy About the Heads of the Mis-
souri and Yellowstone Rivers. With a Plan for Conneeting it by a
Military Road with the Platte Road (Washington, D. C; Gibson
Bros., 1864).

Annals of Wyoming;Tke Wyoming History Journal

arriving well ahead of the rest of the train." Although
there still was no Bozeman Trail at the end of 1863,
Bozeman's failed attempt set in motion events that led
to its establishment the next year.

^^ ometime in spring 1 864, John Bozeman went

j^y back to the Platte road by way of Salt Lake
Cit\ and amved at Richard's Bridge by early June. He
set up a camp near the bridge to organize a wagon train
to go over his proposed shortcut. Soon others were
doing the same, and four trains departed from the north
side of Richard's Bridge that summer." The trains were
large and well-organized. Each is known by the name
of its captain — Hurlbut, Bozeman. Townsend, and
Coffmbury — and approximatelx 1, 500 people and 450
wagons traversed the trail in these four trains. The
first two trains developed the route used by the last
two, so that at the end of the season, the Bozeman Trail
was established.

In spite of Bozeman's earlier presence at Richard's
Bridge, the tlrst train to depart was led by Allen Hurlbut,
a prospector-tumed-entrepreneur much like Bozeman. **
Hurlbut began gathering his train as he traveled along
the Platte road. He airived at the bridge on June 1 1 and
set up a camp to collect a larger train, apparently
convining a growing number to go with him on the
new route with reports of rich gold fields they would
encounter along the way. While the train waited in
camp, Hurlbut explored the proposed route north of
the river. Hurlbut's train of 1 24 wagons and 438 people
left Richard's Bridge on June 1 6.'' Hurlbut had no guide,
reh ing instead on his own purported knowledge of the
area.

Hurlbut led his train north to the head of Salt Creek
and intersected Bozeman's 1 863 trail from Deer Creek.
From there Hurlbut followed Bozeman's trail north-
west to their last camping place on Rock Creek, where
the members of Hurlbut's train noticed that Bozeman's
trail ended. Continuing north on an Indian trail, they
passed the west side of Lake De Smet, crossed Little
Piney Creek, and stopped at Big Piney Creek, near the
site of Fort Phil Kearny. The train waited while Hurlbut
explored ahead for a route through the hills. Hurlbut
then led the train across Lodge Trail Ridge, down
Fetterman Ridge, across the hills and two small creeks,
and down the valley of Prairie Dog Creek.

Directly east of Sheridan, while traveling down the
east side of Prairie Dog Creek, they turned west, crossed
the creek, and went over the narrow divide to Goose
Creek, paralleling the north side of present Fifth Street.
They crossed Goose Creek just below the junction of

Big and Little Goose Creeks, at about Fourth Street.
They ascended the hills west of Goose Creek, went
northwest across the highland, and dropped down and
crossed Soldier Creek a mile and a half above its mouth.
They went three miles up the north side of Soldier
Creek, turned northwest, and went across the hills to
Wolf Creek. Today, Keystone Road overlays this route.
At Wolf Creek, Hurlbut turned and went about tlve
miles up the creek, where the train camped to allow
some of the men to prospect in the mountains.

Meanwhile, Bozeman's train was following not far
behind. Contrary to popular belief. Bozeman's train
was the second train, not the first, to start on the
Bozeman Trail in 1 864. Bozeman left Richard's Bridge
on June 1 8, only two days after Hurlbut, but he lost
more time w hen he stopped several miles out and waited
for others to catch up.'" Bozeman's train was a few
days behind when Hurlbut's train stopped on Wolf
Creek, and while they camped, Bozeman's train passed
them. This fateful moment dramatically changed the
course of the trail's development. After Bozeman
passed Hurlbut and took the lead, he established the

" Bozeman's party crossed the Big Horn Basin, went up the
Yellowstone Valley, and descended to the Gallatin Valley from a
pass they named Bozeman Pass; George W. Irwin II, "Overland to
Montana," Butte Miner, .lanuary I, 1899.

The site of Richard's Bridge is north of Evansville, on the
eastern edge of Casper. Contemporaries often referred to Richard's
Bridge as Reshavv's Bridge, and it was also known as the lower
Platte bridge. It was built b\ John Baptiste Richard Sr. in 1853,
who operated it as a toll bridge through 1865. Richard's Bridge
was six miles below the upper bridge (1859-1867) at Fort Caspar
built by Louis Guinard.

" Little is known about the shadowy figure identified in different
sources as Hurlbut, Hurlburt, or Hurlbert. Even his first name is
not certain, although the most reliable evidence indicates it was
.Mien. Hurlbut was a prospector who is credited with discovering
gold on Prickly Pear Creek and the fabulously rich "lost mine" in
the Bighorn Mountains. The most complete documentation of
Hurlbut is in Philip R. Barbour, Research Notes, MC 95, Montana
Historical Society, Helena; and Alfred James Mokler, History of
Natrona County. Wyoming. 188S-1922 (Chicago: Lakeside Press,
1923; reprint, Casper, Wyo.: Mountain States Lithographing, 1989),
90-91.

'' The only known diary of this significant train is the lengthy,
detailed diary kept by Abram Voorhees, who started as marshal
and was elected captain to replace Hurlbut at the Big Horn River;
Abram H. Voorhees, Diary, WA MSS-926, Beinecke Rare Book
and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecti-
cut.

" There are no known diaries from Bozeman's train. John T.
Smith's small train caught up with Bozeman on the road and fol-
lowed close behind him to Montana, and his reminiscence pro-
vides most of what is known about Bozeman's train; John T. Smith,
"Captain John Bozeman's Trip, 1864," Bozeman Chronicle, De-
cember 30, 1891,

Spring 1998

rest of the route to the Gallatin Valley. And because
Bozeman's train arri\ed in the Gallatin Valle\ tlrst,
his train has been \videl_\ celebrated as the first to
traverse the Bozenian Trail. Consequently, the trail is
now remembered as the Bozeman, not the Hurlbut Trail.

Passing the corralled Hurlbut train. Bozeman's train
crossed Wolf Creek and went three miles over a divide
to Tongue River. They crossed the Tongue halfway
between Ranchester and Dayton, where Bingham post
office and stage station was located in the 1 880s. They
climbed northwest out of the Tongue River Valley,
crossed an open plateau, dropped down, and continued
northwest to to T\\ in Creek. The\ crossed T\\ in Creek
just south of the Montana state line and went west
through hills to East Pass Creek. The> went dow n East
Pass Creek and crossed Pass Creek.

From Pass Creek, they went northwest through a
narrow pass to the Little Bighorn River. Continuing
northwest, they went over several divides to the Big
Horn River, crossing Lodge Grass, Rotten Grass, and
Soap Creeks, and descended Soap Creek to the cross-
ing. They crossed the Big Horn at an Indian ford now
known as Spotted Rabbit Crossing, at the mouth of
Soap Creek, about eight miles below the mouth of the
Big Horn Canyon. Bozeman undoubtedly followed an
Indian trail north from Wolf Creek to the Big Horn
River. And from Pass Creek to the Big Horn, his route
was the same one Jim Bridger guided William F.
Raynolds southward over in September 1859."

The Bozeman train crossed the Big Horn River on
July 5 and proceeded northwest through badlands to
the Yellowstone River. They descended the steep bluffs
lining the south side of the river at the mouth of Blue
Creek, opposite Billings, Montana. The\ attempted to
travel up the south side of the ri\ er. but in a couple
miles, bluffs blocked further passage up the river bot-
tom. Bozeman then led the train back over the bluffs in
a circuitous westerly course, coming back to the
Yellowstone at the mouth of Duck Creek. They went
five miles up the Yellowstone bottom and crossed
Clarks Fork just above its mouth, turned south, and
traveled up the west side. They passed the junction of
Rock Creek and continued up its west side to where
Bridger's train, coming from the Pryor Mountains, had
crossed Rock Creek a few da\s earlier.

At this point, on Rock Creek a mile below Joliet, the
Bozeman train intersected the Bridger Trail. From here
to the mountains east of the Gallatin Valley, with a
few minor deviations, the Bozeman Trail followed the
well-detlned Bridger Trail. As a result, west of Rock
Creek to the Shields Ri\ er. the Bozeman Trail is actu-

ally the Bridger Trail. The trail took a westerlv course
for man\ miles and came back to the Yellowstone River
at the mouth of Bridger Creek. The trail then went up
the south side of the Yellowstone and crossed it oppo-
site the mouth of Duck Creek, three miles east of
Springdale.

The Bridger and Bozeman routes diverged a few
miles west of the Yellowstone ford, at the Shields River.
Bozeman crossed the Shields a mile above its mouth,
passed the northern edge of Livingston, turned up Pass
Creek (today's Billman Creek) to Bozeman Pass, and
descended Kelh Creek to the Gallatin Valle\.'- Where
Bozeman crossed the Shields, Bridger turned north and
took his train up the east side of the river about twelve
miles and crossed it at the mouth of Brackett Creek.
He went up Brackett Creek, followed down Bridger
Creek, and crossed over to also descend through KelK
Canyon. This was the route he had led the Yellowstone
expedition o\er in 1860. The Bozeman and Bridger
routes came out the mouth of Kell\- Can\on at the site
of Fort Ellis at Bozeman.''

After escorting his train to Virginia City o\ er a long-
used regional road, Bozeman returned to the site of
Bozeman and participated in the town meeting on .Au-
gust 9 at which the town was named after him. Be-
cause the town was established essentialK on the ar-
rival of the first train that traversed the Bozeman Trail,
and since all trains entering the Gallatin Valley at this
point thereafter scattered widely over existing local
roads, Bozeman is the logical terminus of the Bozeman
Trail.

The last two trains of 1864. the Townsend and
Coffinbury trains, followed the route opened b\ the
Hurlbut and Bozeman trains. However, their experi-
ence differed markedlv from that of the first two trains.
The earlier trains experienced no Indian threat, but when
the Townsend train con'alled for breakfast on the north
bank of the Powder River on July 7, a party of Chev-
enne and a few Sioux warriors came to the corral and
demanded to be fed. Soon afterward, the Indians raced
off and attacked a small partv of emigrants who had

' Raynoids, Exploration of the Yellowstone. 56-58.

- The present freeway does not go down Keliy Canyon hut rather
goes down Rocky Canyon, the ne.xt canyon to the south, which was
too difficult for emigrant wagons. The first teiTitorial road dov\n
Rocky Canyon was built in 1876.

'' Warren McGee of Li\ingston, Montana, is the recognized au-
thority on the Bozeman and Bridger Trails in the ^'ellowstone Val-
ley and Bozeman Pass areas. McGee extensively analyzed maps,
diaries, oral histories, and trail remnants to determine the routes of
both trails.

Annals o{ Wyoming:Tne Wyoming History Journal

gone back looking for a missing man. A running fight
ensued, but the emigrants made it back to the train.
The train was besieged for six hours, and four emi-
grants were killed and one wounded in the encounter.
The Townsend train went on to Montana with no other
Indian problems.'"*

The large, three-part Coffmbury train was the last
Bozeman Trail train in 1864. An odometer on one of
the wagons in the train provided measurements of the
route.'' When the Coffmbury train reached the loca-
tion of the Townsend Fight, they found the scalp of the
man who had been missing from the train, and a short
time later, they came upon one of the bodies from the
fight that had been dug up by wolves. After that, the
Coffmbury train proceeded on to Montana with no dis-
turbances from Indians.

In this defining year, the Bozeman Trail was estab-
lished with the route Hurlbut and Bozeman developed.
The 1864 diaries clearly indicate that the trains went
down Salt Creek to the Powder River. However, Salt
Creek was often called Dry Creek or Dry Fork at the
time, leading to the mistaken view by later historians
that Bozeman 's route went down the stream now known
as Dry Fork Powder River, farther east, which was the
route of the trail opened in 1865.

Perhaps the most important revelation of the 1864
diaries is that John Bozeman wasn't solely responsible
for the route of the Bozeman Trail, as is popularly be-
lieved. In reality, Bozeman pioneered less than a quar-
ter of the route we now call the Bozeman Trail. But
Bozeman was lucky. Although he followed the visible
trails of others — Indians, traders, explorers, Allen
Hurlbut, and, above all, Jim Bridger — because of for-
tuitous historical circumstances, the trail now bears his
name.

Two widely divergent events in early 1865 sig-
nificantly impacted the route of the Bozeman
Trail. At the beginning of the year, the first Montana
territorial legislature passed thirty-three acts granting
charters for wagon roads, bridges, and ferries. Two of
these charters directly concerned the Bozeman Trail.
The two charter companies immediately merged, form-
ing the Bozeman to Fort Laramie Road Company. On
April 1 5 the company announced ambitious plans for
developing the Bozeman Trail in a front-page article in
the Virginia City Montana Post, proclaiming it to be
"the best road to Montana." Ferry boats were built for
the major river crossings, and John Bozeman and Jim
Bridger were recruited to guide emigrants from the
North Platte River over the trail.

The road company's promising plans were brought
to a sudden halt, when the federal government closed
the Bozeman Trail to emigrant traffic and began plan-
ning a massive punitive expedition against the North-
em Plains tribes in the Powder River Basin. Intended
to settle the threat of Indian danger on the trail, the
decision to launch the campaign marked a critical turn-
ing point in the trail's history. If carried through, the
impact of a private company organizing the road would
have undoubtedly led to major changes in the route,
but as it was, the military campaign accomplished it.
That summer General Patrick E. Connor led a column
of the Powder River Indian Expedition up the Bozeman
Trail, establishing a new route from the North Platte
River to a few miles south of Clear Creek.'* This new
route was taken by all subsequent travelers and is the
route now known as the Bozeman Trail for this seg-
ment.

The most important consequence of the expedition
for the route of the Bozeman Trail was that Jim Bridger
was Connor's chief guide. Connor's command marched
from Fort Laramie at the end of July, forded the North
Platte River at La Bonte Crossing (a few miles west of
the 1866 crossing at Bridger's Ferry), and traveled up
the north side on the road now known as Child's Cut-
off About three miles opposite and west of the site of
Fort Fetterman (established 1 867), at the mouth of Sage
Creek, Connor turned north and went up Sage Creek
Valley. Writings by expedition members reveal that

'■* The known Townsend train diaries are T. J. Brundage, "Diary,
1864," in Elsa Spear, ed.. The Books and Photos of Elsa Spear
(Sheridan: Ft. Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association, 1987), 17-
18; and Benjamin Williams Ryan, "The Bozeman Trail to Virginia
City in 1 864," .4w/7a/5 of Wyoming 19 (July 1947): 77-104. In ad-
dition to the Townsend train diaries and reminiscences, an infor-
mative source on the Townsend Fight is David B. Weaver, "Cap-
tain Townsend's Battle on the Powder River," Contributions to the
Montana Historical Society 8 (1917): 283-93. A manuscript map
by Weaver locates the site of the fight opposite the mouth of the
South Fork Powder River; David B. Weaver, Papers, SC 969, Mon-
tana Historical Society, Helena.

" John and Margaret Tomlinson kept an odometer log and jour-
nals; John J. Tomlinson and Margaret H. Tomlinson, Diaries, 1864,
BL 64, Iowa State Historical Society, Iowa City. John Hackney
and Richard Owens kept diaries and also recorded the Tomlinsons'
odometer readings; John S. Hackney, Diary, SC 778, Montana His-
torical Society, Helena; and Richard Owens, Diary SC 613, Mon-
tana Historical Society, Helena.

"■ This new route of the trail is described in the diary of Captain
B. F. Rockafellow and the accounts of Captain Henry E. Palmer
and Finn Burnett, published in LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen,
eds.. The Powder River Campaigns and Sawyers Expedition (Glen-
dale, Calif: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1961). Another important
source is Edwin R. Nash, Diary, 1865, Manuscript Division, Li-
brary of Congress, Washington, DC.

?pring 1998

Connor struck across country and made a new trail.
This new route is entirely logical, since Bridger was
thoroughly familiar with this region. Bridger's route
was shorter, not as sandy, and less alkaline than the
emigrant route down Salt Creek, and it was much bet-
ter suited for a wagon road.

Bridger guided Connor's command up Sage Creek,
crossed it, and continued northwest to Brown Springs
Creek, named for Lieutenant John Brown of the 1 1th
Ohio Cavalry who was killed by Indians the previous
summer.'' Continuing north, the command crossed the
Dry Fork Cheyenne River and several other forks of
the Chexenne River, now known as Bear Creek, Stink-
ing Water Creek, and Sand Creek. These crossings
became popular camping spots in subsequent trail years.
One of them, on a fork of Stinking Water Creek, was
known as Humfreviile's Camp, named for one of
Connor's officers. Captain J. Lee Humfreville. From
Sand Creek, the new route crossed a high divide to
Antelope Creek (then called Wind River) and in a short
distance crossed a smaller stream now called Wind
Creek. For the next twenty miles, the route went over
hills to Dry Fork Powder River and followed down its
bed to the Powder River. The command crossed the
Powder at an Indian ford about twelve miles below
Bozeman's ford.

Connor established a post on a bluff on the west side
of the Powder River, about a half mile above their camp.
First named Camp Connor, the name was soon changed
to Fort Connor, and in November to Fort Reno. On
the first day in camp, a detachment was sent to explore
upstream. Captain Henry Palmer reported that they
went as far as "the crossing of the old traders' road
from the Platte Bridge to the Big Horn Mountains, and
past the same, known as the Bozeman Trail, made in
1864 by J. M. Bozeman of Montana.""* Bridger and
Connor's command left the new post on August 22
and traveled northwest on a well-wom Indian trail. The
next day Palmer noted, "fourteen miles from Crazy
Woman's Fork we struck the Bozeman Wagon Trail
made in 1864."''' From the intersection with Bozeman's
route, seven miles south of Buffalo, they began fol-
lowing the emigrant route of the preceeding two years.

Although the Bozeman Trail had been closed to emi-
grants, one large civilian train traversed it in 1865. At
the same time Connor campaigned in the Powder River
Basin, James A. Sawyers of Sioux City, Iowa, led a
government wagon-road expedition, accompanied by
military escorts, over much of the Bozeman Trail.-"
The Sawyers expedition was funded to survey the
Niobrara to Virginia City Wagon Road. The train left

the Missouri River at Niobrara, traveled up the Niobrara
River, and went directly west to the Powder Ri\er.
Sawyers struck Connor's trail on the Dry Fork Powder
River, about thirteen miles east of the Powder, and fol-
lowed it to the newly established post. The train ar-
rived at Camp Connor on August 24 and left two days
later, on Connor's trail.

Meanwhile, four days days ahead of Sawyers, Connor
was traveling down Prairie Dog Creek on the emigrant
route of the Bozeman Trail and passed where the emi-
grant route branched off to the west. He continued dow n
Prairie Dog to the Tongue River, but when Sawyers,
following his trail, came to the fork in the road, he
turned west onto the emigrant road and crossed the di-
vide to Goose Creek. Sawyers did not mention turn-
ing off Connor's trail in his official report, but expedi-
tion topographer Lewis H. Smith recorded in his diary
that they "left Connors track and struck off to Bozmans
trail."-' Teamster C. M. Lee explained how they knew
to turn at the fork in his incredibly detailed diarv: "dur-
ing the afternoon there was a dispatch found stuck up
on an old Elk horn along side of the road from Col.
Bridger to Sawyers directing the latter to take the left
hand or old Boseman trail ahead. "--

The Sawyers train crossed Goose Creek at Sheridan
and went northwest to the Tongue River. While they
were crossing the river, they were attacked b\ Arapaho
Indians. They corralled on the north bank of the Tongue
for several days, waiting for reinforcements from
Connor's command downstream. An escort eventu-
ally arrived, and the Sawyers train continued on the
Bozeman Trail to the Gallatin Valley. Sawyers dis-
banded the expedition in Virginia City and returned
east. Although the Sawyers expedition accomplished
little or no road building, it ultimately led to an impor-
tant change in the route of the Bozeman Trail. When
Sawvers reached Rock Creek, after traxersinf;

'" An account of the incident is in the letters of Corporal Hervey
Johnson; Wilham E. Unrau, ed.. Tending the Talking Wire (Salt
Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1971). 154-55, 335.

'* Hafen and Hafen, Powder River Campaigns. 116-17.

"Ibid., 122.

-" Three diaries of the Sawyers expedition provide odometer mea-
surements and detailed route information; James .\. Sawyers, Ojfi-
cial Report (39th Cong., 1st sess., 1866, H. Ex. Doc. 58. Serial
1256), reprinted in Hafen and Hafen, Powder River Campaigns,
224-85; C. M. Lee, Diary, 1865, SC 261, K. Ross Toole Archives,
Mansfield Library, University of Montana, Missoula; and Lewis
H. Smith, Diary. 1865, SC 1716, Montana Historical Societv, Hel-
ena.

-' Smith, Diary, August 31, 1865.

-- Lee, Diary, August 30, 1865.

Annals or WyomingiTne Wyoming History Journal

Bozeman's difficult, winding route via the Yellowstone
River, he recorded in his journal that a cutoff could be
made from the Big Horn River directly west to Clarks
Fork that would save more than twenty miles.-'

At the end of the 1865 season, there was a new
Bozeman Trail for the segment from the North Platte
to Clear Creek. The new segment was distinct and
wideK' separated from the earlier emigrant road. Dur-
ing the next three years, all emigrant and military trav-
elers used this new route, and the earlier route was for-
gotten. It was a momentous year for the Bozeman Trail.
Connor achieved a new route and established the first
fort on the trail. But instead of making the trail safer
for future travelers, his expensive and disastrous cam-
paign only guaranteed increased Indian-white conflict
over the trail. And Sawyers, following in Connor's
wake, suggested a major improvement in the trail west
of the Big Horn River.

Emigrant travel on the Bozeman Trail com-
menced again in summer 1866, when migra-
tion that had been curtailed by government orders and
national preoccupation with the Civil War was un-
leashed. During this first postwar migration, traffic on
all western overland trails was immense. The pivotal
Bozeman Trail event was the mid-summer military oc-
cupation of the trail. In June Colonel Henry B.
Carrington and the 1 8th Infantry marched north from
Fort Laramie with orders to establish three forts along
the trail for the protection of emigrants. Ultimately,
instead of providing protection, permanent military
presence escalated the Indian-white conflict to all-out
warfare.

A dozen known diaries written by 1 866 travelers pro-
vide a graphic picture of the turbulent travel season.
The character of the Bozeman Trail changed radically
in this year. A high proportion of the travelers were
freighters, in what has been called the "second rush" to
exploit the miners in the mining camps. Also, in con-
trast to the few large trains of 1 864, many smaller trains
traversed the trail this year. Early travelers experience
no Indian problems, but after Fort Phil Kearny was
established, all trains were required to combine into
huge trains for safety. Approximately 2,000 people and
1 ,200 wagons traveled over the Bozeman Trail in this
decisive year.

Until late July, Bozeman Trail travelers followed the
1 865 route of the army and Sawyers to the Big Horn
River and then Bozeman's route by way of the
Yellowstone to the intersection with the Bridger Trail
on Rock Creek. For early travelers, the Big Horn ford

near the mouth of Soap Creek was especially difficult
and dangerous. In July some men from Bozeman set
up a private ferry close to the canyon. The Bozeman
men did not stay long, and soon emigrants were run-
ning the ferry. Fort C. F. Smith was established in
August near the ferry, and thereafter all of the emi-
grants crossed there, and the earlier ford was discon-
tinued.

In the middle of the 1866 season, just ahead of some
three hundred wagons lined up at the Big Horn ferry,
James A. Sawyers and his second wagon-road expedi-
tion struck directly west of the ferry on July 29 and
blazed the cutoff he proposed the previous year. His
new route intersected the Bridger Trail on the west side
of Clarks Fork, then followed it six miles to the Rock
Creek crossing, where Bozeman's route coming up
Rock Creek joined it on the west bank. The rest of the
emigrants that season, including those guided by Jim
Bridger under Carrington's orders, followed him and
took this new route.

The establishment of Fort Phil Kearny in July and
Fort C. F. Smith in August began the transition of the
Bozeman Trail from an emigrant to a military road.
The process was effectively completed by the end of
the 1866 travel season. Jim Bridger's reconnaissance
in late summer, and Ambrose Bierce's survey notes
and map made during Colonel William B. Hazen's in-
spection tour in the fall, are essential sources for deter-
mining the route of the Bozeman Trail from the North
Platte River to the Big Horn River as it existed at the
close of the year.-^

Sometime in spring 1867, the army opened a new
route between Forts Phil Kearny and C. F. Smith.
References to the new road first appear in military re-
ports and on maps in summer 1 867. This military road,
then known as the cutoff, left the emigrant road at the
base of Fetterman Ridge. The cutoff paralleled the
emigrant route, keeping closer to the mountains, and
rejoined it about two miles south of the Montana state
line. The cutoff followed the route that Jim Bridger
guided Raynolds over in September 1859 on his way
south from the Tongue River. Evidence indicates that
this military cutoff was opened by Bridger himself in
spring 1 867 when he returned to Fort Phil Kearny from

-■' Sawyers, Official Report, September 25, 1865.

-' Bridger's survey is in Grace R. Hebard and E. A. Brininstool,
77)4? Bozeman Trail, 2 vols. (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarl< Company,
1922), 2: 119-21. Bierce's manuscript survey is in Ambrose G.
Bierce, "Surveyor's Field Book," Beinecke Rare Book and Manu-
script Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Spring 1998

his winter stay at Fort C. F. Smith.-' Once again, Jim
Bridger was singularly responsible tbr a major segment
of the Bozeman Trail.

The first mention of the military cutoff was made by
Lieutenant Colonel Luther P. Bradley in his report to
Mountain District headquarters on his arrival at Fort
C. F. Smith with his 27th Infantry command. Bradley
wrote that the road from Fort Phil KeamN' to the Tongue
River, "known as the cut-off," was "a bad road nearly
all the way and I would advise against any loaded train
being sent over it again, as from all the information 1
can get, it is much worse than the old road [and] by my
estimate, eight (8) miles longer."-" Bradley enclosed a
map of the 27th Infantry route which depicts the rela-
tive positions of the old and new routes.

According to Bradley's map, the new road was west
of and closer to the mountains than the old road. It
began at the old road at the base of Fetterman Ridge,
went northwest on the approximate route of Sheridan
County 28, and crossed Little Goose Creek at Big Horn.
From the Little Goose crossing, it continued northwest
up Jackson Creek, went through a gap in the Beaver
Creek Hills, crossed Beaver Creek, and crossed Big
Goose Creek at Beckton. It continued across hills and
creeks to the Tongue River, crossing it at Dayton, two
and a half miles west of the emigrant crossing. From
there it went northwest over more hills and joined the
emigrant route near Parkman, about two miles south
of the Montana state line. The cutoff is the route Vie
Willits Garber described as the Bozeman Trail, which
became the traditionally accepted route of the trail. The
State of Wyoming officially marked it as the Bozeman
Trail with a series of granite monuments in 1913.

Bridger probably never intended the cutoff to replace
the earlier route. Rather, it offered a \ iable alternate
route between the posts. During the remaining two years
of military occupation, the cutoff was used by more
mobile detachments, while the emigrant route down
Prairie Dog Creek was preferred for heavily weighted
freight wagons. One of the last conflicts on the trail
occurred on the emigrant route and involved a supph
train. In November 1867, Lieutenant E. R. P. Shurly
commanded an escort accompanying a supply train on
its way to Fort C. F. Smith. The train was on the old
route, and while going down the east side of Prairie
Dog Creek, a sudden Indian attack forced the train to
corral on the bank of the creek a few miles southeast of
Sheridan.-' The train was besieged for several hours
before a cavalry detachment arrived. The fight is best
remembered by whites for Shurly's contention that the
Indians were trying to capture their howitzer, and by

the Indians because they captured a wagon loaded w ith
blankets.

One more, very minor change in the route of the
Bozeman Trail occurred after Fort Fettemian was es-
tablished in July 1867 on the south side of the North
Platte River, on a bluff east of La Prele Creek. There-
after, most traffic approached the Bozeman Trail on
the south-side overland trail and forded the North Platte
Ri\ er Just north of the fort. From the ford, a new route
of the Bozeman Trail went northwest and in a few miles
connected with the earlier route coming up Sage Creek.

The emigrant and militar\ routes of the Bozeman
Trail resulted from the complex interaction of particu-
lar people, events, and geography during the brief
Bozeman Trail era, 1 863- 1 868. The four men respon-
sible for developing the various segments of the trail
were Jim Bridger, John Bozeman, James Sawyers, and
Allen Hurlbut. In temis of the final route of the trail,
the one we now call the Bozeman Trail, Bridger was
responsible for a greater number of trail miles than the
other three combined. While John Bozeman doggedly
pursued his vision of opening a shortcut to the Mon-
tana goldfields, v\ithout Jim Bridger. there would be
no Bozeman Trail.

■' Documentation that Bridger opened tlie niilitar\ ciitotTis pro-
vided by Captain William S. Stanton, topographer with General
George Crook in summer 1876. In his diary, Stanton referred to
the mihtarx cutoff as "Bridger's cut-off branch of the Fort C. F.
Smith road" on June 20 and 21, 1S76; Lloyd McFarling, ed., £v-
plorifig the Northern PUnns. ISII4-IS76 (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton
Printers, 1955). 368.

-" Luther P. Bradley to .^..^..^.G., Mountain District, .lul> 27,
1867; #B73 1867; Letters Received, 1867-1869; Department of the
Platte, vol. I; U. S. Army Continental Commands, 1821-1420,
Record Group 393; National Archives, Washington, DC.

- The location of the ShurK Fight on the emigrant route is de-
temiined from George Templeton, Diarv, November 7 and 8, 1867,
and April 4, 1868, Graff 4099, Newberry Librar\, Chicago; and
Shurly to Templeton. November 10. 1867, reprinted in Spear, BooA.?
tmd Photos, 40-4 1 .

Susan Badger Doyle is an independent seliolar
specializing in ethnohistoiy. specifically in the his-
toiy of America)! western expansion and Plains
Indian Euro-American relations. Dr. Doyle is the
recognized expert on the history of the Bozeman
Trail. Her many credits include serving as gen-
eral editor, "Emigrant Trails Historical Studies
Series, " Oregon-California Trails Association.

THE BtUDGER TRAJh

Am Alternative Route ta

the Goid tteids of Montana

Territory in ISS^^

James A. Loive

Bridger 's [Trail], is much more popular, probably from
the fact that Bridger is an old and well known moun-
taineer, having spent his whole life among the moun-
tains and the Indians and hcn'ing the reputation of be-
ing a reliable man. He holds a commission of Major
in the U. S, army and has been much in the employ of
the Govt.

— FranUin Kirkaldie, 1864

The Letters of Franklin Luther Kirkaldie

Significant deposits of gold and silver discovered in
Montana and Idaho in the early 1 860s fostered a per-
egrination of transient prospectors, miners, and ad-
venturers—disappointed in their luck in the regions of
California, Nevada, and Colorado— to the nascent gold
mining communities of Bannack and Virginia Cit>\
Montana, that sprang up as a result of the placers found
at Alder Gulch in 1863.- Farmers in the East and Mid-
west, disillusioned with their marginal properties, resi-
dents of small towns, and men avoiding the Civil War,
joined the migration as well. A faster and shorter route
was needed to access the new Territory of Montana
and the Bridger Trail provided a viable alternative to
the Bozeman and Oregon Trail routes to Virginia City.
Jim Bridger"s route west of the Bighorn Mountains
through the Big Horn Basin provided safer passage than
the Bozeman Trail for emigrant trains traveling to
Montana during the turbulent decade of Plains Indian
unrest; at the same time, it eliminated hundreds of miles
and many days of travel along the least dangerous but
circuitous route via the Oregon Trail and Lander Cut-
off or longer routes by way of Fort Bridger or Salt

Lake City, before heading north to Fort Hall and Vir-
ginia City on the Montana Trail.

United States territorial advancement, gold discov-
eries, and initial Euro-American settlement in the West
increasingly encroached on aboriginal Plains Indian
societies; therefore, Bridger's route was no accident.
The primary reason he blazed his trail was to avoid the
hostilities of the Lakota Sioux and their allies, the

' This article is but a small portion of a book under contract with
the Arthur H. Clark Compan_\ to be published in Spring 1999.
Genesis of this topic was the direct result of required mitigation
for the construction of the Express Pipeline in Wyoming. The
pipeline crossed two extant segments of the Bridger Trail in Hot
Springs and Fremont Counties. Wyoming (Sites 48HO207 and
48FR717. respecti\el_\ ). TRC Mariah Associates. Laramie,
contracted to mitigate cultural resources along the pipeline
corridor, and Express Pipeline Inc.. of Calgary. Alberta, funded
the research and writing of this study. Field reconnaissance
verified extant physical evidence on the ground, determined the
feasibilitv of negotiating the topograph}, and located emigrant
names incised on sandstone rock formations along the trail in the
central and northern portions of Wyoming. These names not only
substantiate the route in the two locations, but the latter,
especially, helps to identify the emigrant crossing of the
Shoshone River, a location shown approximately twelve miles to
the west on the USGS quadrangles.

- James Stuart. "The Yellowstone Expedition of 1863."
Contributions lo the Historical Society of Montana I (1876). 152.
Granville Stuart, Forty Years on the Frontier: Granville Stuart—
Gold-Miner, Trader. Merchant. Rancher, and Politician. Edited
by Paul C. Phillips. 2 vols. Cleveland, Ohio: The Arthur H.
Clarke Company, 1925. vol. 2. 247. 262. 265. Also see
"Discovery and Settlement of Alder Creek," Montana Post,
January 21. 1865.

Spring 1998

Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho. who cher-
ished and protected the rich hunting grotinds of the
Powder River Basin assigned to them as part of the
1 85 1 Fort Laramie Treaty. Beginning in 1 866, the Sioux
\ ehementl_\ carried out "Red Cloud's War.'" a campaign
to oust the U. S. Army, freighters, and emigrant trains
from the Powder Ri\er countr> ; their efforts, as pro-
mulgated by the 1 868 Fort Laramie Treaty, resulted in
the closure of the Bozeman Trail and abandonment of
the forts constructed in vain to protect it. These issues
were at the core of the conflict and germane to any
peaceful and practical resolution. Jim Bridger, realiz-
ing the sensitivity of these issues, chose an emigrant
trail route west of the Big Horn Mountains that would
not trespass through the Pow der River country."

Bridger's trail departed the main Oregon Trail a few
miles west of Red Buttes, located on the North Platte
Ri\ er just west of Fort Caspar. Heading in a north-
westerly direction, the trail skirted the sotithem end of
the Big Horn Mountains to Badwater Creek, then
avoided the impassable Wind River Canyon by head-
ing north up Bridger Creek and o\ er the Bridger Moun-
tains. At the summit of the divide, it crossed over to
the eastern or south fork of Kirby Creek and descended
it to the Big Horn Ri\ er. In the past, two noted histo-
rians maintained that the trail passed through the can-
yon.^ The trail crossed the Big Horn and continued
along the west side of the river, usually within a mile
or less until opposite the mouth of Nowood Creek; at
this point, it left the Big Horn and proceeded north-
west to the Gre\ bull Ri\ er. After crossing the Greybull.
the trail continued west on the north side of the river to
the vicinity of the big bend, where it proceeded north
until it reached the Shoshone River, then downstream
to a point near the mouth of Sage Creek.

The trail crossed the Shoshone and continued north-
west following Sage Creek, then continued north until
it reached Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River near
Bridger. Montana. The Bridger and Bozeman Trails
converged along Rock Creek, twenty miles farther down
the Clarks Fork in Montana. From this point, the two
routes continued west (with minor variations) as the
Bridger Trail south of the Yellowstone River to the
Shields River crossing east of Livingston, Montana.
On the east side of the Shields River, the respective
routes of the Bridger and Bozeman Trails diverged as
each guide chose a different route over the mountains
into the Gallatin Valley. Bridger's trail continued west,
then south up the valley of the Madison River to the
bustling gold mining town of Virginia City.

]3_

At least ten individual wagon trains departed
along the Bridger Trail betw een May and Sep-
tember 1864. A cumulative count from Bridger Trail
diaries shows that over 600, possibly close to 700 w ag-
ons, thousands of head of stock (horses, mules, oxen,
steers, and milk cows), and up to 2.500 men. women,
and children traveled the Bridger Trail. Combined,
the original General Land Office plat maps. 1 864 emi-
grant diaries, and reminiscences are in\ aluable for \ eri-
fying the trail route.

By 1 864 Bridger had forty years experience in the
Rock\ Mountain West as a fur trapper, trader, guide,
and partner in the famous Rocky Mountain Fur Com-
pany. He had become a wilderness savant, accumulat-
ing an astounding mental map of western North
.'\merica. Subsequenth . he pla_\ed an integral role in
the initial geographical discoveries in the West, which,
in turn, helped foster early Euro-American emigration
and settlement. He quit the moribtmd fur trade in 1 842,
and with partner Louis Vasquez, established a trading
post in future Wyoming along Blacks Fork of the Green
River in 1843.^

- References to diminished bison herds and other game
resources in general, due to emigrant roads through Indian lands
and the Powder River country in particular, are ubiquitous in the
annual reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The\ were
considered the principal factors preventing peaceful coexistence
between emigrants and Native .Americans on the northern plains
and intermountain regions during the late 1850s and throughout
the I 860s. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
for 1860, p. 83; 1861, pp. 638-39, 642; 1862, pp. 185-86, 320-21,
324. 339-40; 1863, pp. 130-31, 140-41, 284-85. 375; 1864, pp.
171,315-16,417,442; 1865, pp. 382,616-17, 723; 1866, pp. 171-
72; 1867, pp. 3-4, 186-87.

^ Merrill G. Burlingame, The Montana Frontier (Helena: State
Publishing Co., 1942), 132; VV. Turrentine .lackson, li'ai^on RoaJs
li'est: A Study of Federal Road Siirwys and Consrnictu^n in the
Trans-Mississippi West. 1846-1869 fBerkeley: University of
California Press. 1952), 284. Burlingame and Jackson assumed
the trail followed the modern railroad and highway route through
Wind River Canyon, which were not completed until 1914 and
1923-1924, respectively. Prior to that, the canyon was impassable
to horse, wagon, and automobile traffic, as evidenced by
Mavnadier's predicament when he reached the mouth of the
canyon. Bridger's route and Bird's Eye Pass were two of the
routes used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to
pass over the Bridger Mountains. General Land Office survey
plat maps were used to corroborate primary and secondary source
materials.

'Jim Bridger traveled far and wide throughout the Rocky
Mountain region during his tenure with the various fur
companies. He played a far more important role in exploration o'i
the Far West than he has been given credit for in the literature, and
that his "tall tales," whether embellished upon or not. were based
on empirical knowledge accumulated over more than forty years
(1823-68) in the Rocky Mountains and on the frontier.

Annals of Wyoming-.The Wyoming History Journal

After several years of relative tranquility as a
successful trading entrepreneur, Bridger en-
tered a period of public service as guide nonpareil for a
series of exploratory expeditions sponsored by the fed-
eral government to determine future transportation
routes in the Rocky Mountains and Far West, and for
U. S. Army field expeditions during the Indian wars of
the 1860s. In succession, Bridger guided Captain
Howard Stansbury's expedition of 1849-50, designed
to acquire geographical and geological data about the
West that would facilitate a future route for a transcon-
tinental railroad and telegraph and identify the loca-
tion of coal deposits; Lieutenant G. K. Warren's 1 856
expedition to reconnoiter the regions surrounding the
Black Hills and the Yellowstone River; Captain Will-
iam Raynolds" 1859-60 Yellowstone Expedition; the
1 86 1 exploratory expedition by Captain E.L. Berthoud
to discover a stage route over the central Rockies; and
Colonel William Collins' trek along the Overland and
Oregon Trails in 1862. In 1865 he guided General
Patrick Connor's Powder River Campaign; accompa-
nied General Grenville Dodge to Fort Laramie in 1 867
to ascertain the best location for the rail line across the
Black Hills (Laramie Range) to the Laramie Plains,
the route he had shown Stansbury fifteen years before;
and he performed numerous exploratory and guide
duties during Red Cloud's War, 1866-68. Bridger held
the rank of Major and chief guide assigned to Fort
Laramie throughout the 1 860s until his retirement late
in 1868."

Captain Raynolds of the U. S. Army Topographi-
cal Corps was ordered to locate four possible
wagon routes through northern Wyoming and south-
em Montana. Accompanied by Lieutenant Henry
Maynadier, the expedition was also instructed to sepa-
rate and perform individual reconnaissance: one group
exploring the upper reaches of the Big Horn River,
while the other explored the upper Yellowstone drain-
age. On the recommendation of the Choteau Fur Com-
pany, long the headquarters for mountaineers, Raynolds
hired the "best guide," civilian Jim Bridger, to lead the
expedition." The following spring, after spending the
winter at Deer Creek, Raynolds chose to explore the
Yellowstone country. On May 23, 1860, he informed
Maynadier of his plans for reconnaissance.

I spent the evening with Lieutenant Maynadier, mak-
ing arrangements for our future explorations.... Lieu-
tenant Maynadier is to descend the Big Horn to the
point at which we left in September, and thence pro-
ceed westward along the base of the mountains, cross-

ing the Yellowstone and reaching Three Forks... we
shall meet at the Three Forks on the last day of June.*

Maynadier's exploration along the Big Horn River
provided the basis for fiiture historians to claim that he
was responsible for locating the trail route utilized by
Bridger in 1864; however, Maynadier's route differed
considerably fi^om the trail blazed by Bridger four years
later."* Although Maynadier's party was ordered to map
a wagon road through the Big Horn Basin and was prob-
ably the first to take wheeled vehicles into the basin,
this reconnaissance probably did not provide Bridger
with any information concerning a route that he did
not already know.'" In his report, Raynolds was nega-

" Howard Stansburx-, Exploration and Swvey of the Vallev of
the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Including a Reconnaissance of a New
Route Through the Rocky Mountains. Spec, sess., March 1851.
Sen. Exec. Doc. No. 3. (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.,
1852), 76, 80; Brigham D. Madsen, Exploring the Great Salt
Lake: The Stansbuiy Expedition of 1849-50 (Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press, 1989), 130; William H. Goetzmann,
.Army Exploration in the American West. 1803-1863 (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1959), 223-24. G. K. Warren, Preliminary
Report of Explorations in Nebraska and Dakota in the Years
1855-1856-1857. 1875 Reprint. (Washington. D. C: U. S.
Government Printing Office, 1990), 10-11, 15-16. William F.
Raynolds, Report on the Exploration of the Yellowstone and the
Countiy Drained by that River. 40th Cong., 2d sess., 1 868. Sen.
Exec. Doc. No. 77 Serial 1317. (Washington, D. C: U. S.
Government Printing Office, 1868), 4-5.

Raynolds, Exploration of the Yellowstone, 4, 18.

" Raynolds, Exploration of the Yellowstone. 82.

" Jackson, Wagon Roads West, 267; Goetzmann, .4rmy
Exploration, 420. Jackson and Goetzmann focused on the fact that
Maynadier traversed the Big Horn Basin as he followed the Big
Horn River downstream. No comparison or research of the
particular details concerning the trail route was attempted, due to
their individual choice of topics and larger focus of federal road
construction and exploration throughout the West.

'" Charles Lindsay, The Big Horn Basin. (Lincoln: University
of Nebraska, 1932), 59-60. Among other difficulties, Maynadier
wandered for three days in the Copper Mountain region trying to
find his way around the Wind River Canyon to the Big Horn
River, and he lost a team of mules and valuable equipment when
searching for a crossing of the Shoshone River. Maynadier
dispatched three men to reconnoiter a route along the Big Horn
River while he investigated the northern end of the canyon. The
men returned and informed Maynadier "that no road could be
found along the river." The following day involved "a toilsome
days march," and the ne.xt day, it became "evident that ... no road
even for pack-animals could be found entirely in the river valley.
For three days we had been laboring in the broken region, making
very little progress and using up animals and men." Abandoning
all but one wagon and the light ambulances for transporting the
instruments, the remaining equipage was transferred to the mules
for transport. Maynadier crossed the Shoshone, but paid a price.
Four mules, an ambulance, equipment, and instruments were lost
in the swift current. Raynolds, Exploration of the Yellowstone, 1 33-
34, 136-37.

spring

1998

live in his response to any possible route through the
Big Horn Basin. "This part of the country ... is repel-
ling in all its characteristics, and can only be traversed
with the greatest difficulty. . . . The valley of the Big
Horn ... is totally surrounded on all sides by mountain
ridges, and presents but few agricultural advantages. .
. . This region is total 1\' unfit for either rail or wagon
roads."" This and other descriptions like it are found
in Raynolds' report and seem to have prejudiced the
military in favor of the route on the eastern side of the
Big Horns. It may well have been one of the reasons
the Bridger Trail was abandoned in fa\or of the
Bozeman Trail during the \'ears immediately follow-
ing 1864.'-

Jim Bridger took the first train of miners and emi-
grants north on the Bridger Trail in spring 1864, four
weeks ahead of the t1rst train on the Bozeman Trail.
Colonel Collins released Bridger, temporarily, from his
commission as post scout at Fort Laramie on April 30.
An emigrant train left Denver about May 1 and headed
north to Fort Laramie, bound for the Montana gold
fields. Expecting a surge of emigration to Montana,
Collins telegraphed his superiors on April 26 and ex-
pressed his concerns for the proposed Bozeman Trail
route through the Powder River Basin.

immigration is coming rapidly; trouble with the Indi-
ans may be expected, and 1 need power or instructions.
... A large party is coming from Den\ er to go a new
route from the Platte to the mines, crossing the Big
Horn and Yellowstone. . . . Other trains are coming
with same object. The route will be at least 200 miles
shorter, through a country that ought to be opened, but
a strong military' party will be necessary. ... I have
devoted the last two years to understanding this coun-
try. ... In this mountain ser\ ice it is better to lead than
follow immigration. Could I ha\ e my way, it should
be sifted, controlled, and guided on designated routes;
not permitted to run wild and make trouble.''

Bridger piloted this train as the tlrst from his
new cutoff west of Red Buttes on May 20.'^
His party included Reverend Learner B. Stateler, whose
written account of this trip is the only one known to
exist. The train consisted of sixty-two wagons and ap-
proximately three hundred men, "organized under the
guidance of Major Bridger . . . and traveled in military
order."'' O'Dillon B. Whitford, physician and surgeon,
probably traveled north from Denver with Stateler" s
initial train to Fort Laramie, then with Bridger in the
vanguard. Whitford maintains that he traveled "with
forty women and fifteen hundred men. . . ."'* John
Jacobs led the second train over the Brideer Trail, de-

parting the cutoff on May 30. He had been with John
Bozeman on their tlrst exploration of the Bozeman Trail
route early in 1863. Together with guide Rafael
Gallegos, they lead the tlrst train of emigrants east of
the Bie Horn Mountains later that same vear until a

' Raynolds. Exploralion of the Yellowstone. ^. 13.
- In fact, not only was Raynolds' opinion of the western
Powder River Basin, east of the Big Horn Mountains, favorable to
the construction of a road, he added this observation in his 1868
report: "At the eastern base of the Big Horn mountains there is a
belt of country some 20 miles in width that is peculiarly suitable
for a wagon road, and which I doubt not will become the great line
of travel into the valley of the Three Forks'" This statement is
followed by a footnote. "Note for 1 867.- The recent developments
of this country have opened this route by the foot of the Big Horn
range, and forts [Reno, Phil Kearny, and C. F. Smith] are now
being established along the entire line." IbicL. Lv In 1 867, Gen.
William T. Sherman had another reason to keep the Bozeman
Trail open— to divert Siou.x attention away from the construction
of the transcontinental railroad. See Robert G. Athearn, William
Teeiimseh Slieinian and the Settlement of the i]'est (Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press. 1956). 101-02.

'-' Lt. Col. William Collins to Brig. Gen. Robert B. Mitchell.
Fort Laramie, .April 2.S, 1864. War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies. House Misc. Doc, 52nd Cong., 1st sess.. vol. 34, part 3,
(Washington, D. C: U. S. Government Printing OITice. 1892),
304-05. Collins was fully aware of the ramifications of
trespassing through Lakota Sioux territory set aside for them in
the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, and previous problems associated
with unbridled emigration related to gold rushes across the West.
Red Cloud's War was the result.

" Granville Stuart was in Montana in 1864. He remembered
that "lim Bridger and John Jacobs made a road from the Red
Buttes on North Platte to Virginia City via Wind river. Stinking
river, Pryors fork. Clarks fork and the \'ellovvstone river and a
large number of wagons came by that route." G. Stuart. Fort)'
)'ears on the Frontier, vol. 2. p. 15.

''' E. J.Slanky. Life of Reverend L B Stateler: A Stoiy of Life
on the Old Frontier. (Nashville. Dallas, and Richmond:
Publishing House of the M.E. Church. South. 1916), 175.

"■ O'Dillon B. Whitford. May 18. 1890. letter to W. A. Clark,
Society of Montana Pioneers. O'Dillion B. Whitford. Letters and
Application for membership to the Society of Montana Pioneers.
Montana Historical Society, Helena. Society of Montana
Pioneers Records. MC 68. Also see James '» '. Sanders, ed.. Society-
of Montana Pioneers: Constitution. Members, and Officers, with
Portrait and Maps Volume 1. Register. (.Akron, Ohio: The
Werner Co., 1899), 241; hereafter referred to as the pioneer
register. Of the emigrants listed in the register who took the
Bridger Trail. Whitford's appears to be the only entry besides
Stateler to have departed from Denver. The July 12. date of arrival
provides the additional evidence to confirm this. Whitford's
statement that he traveled with 1 ,500 men and 40 women is by far
the largest number put forth by any existing correspondence from
a trail member. The figure undoubtedly refers to the total number
of wagons and emigrants that comprised the first three trains
under Bridger. Jacobs, and .Allensworth. .As a physician and
surgeon, Whitford was well educated, lending credence to his
estimate of the number of emigrants who travelled uith him.

ne Wyoming History

large party of Cheyenne and Sioux forced them to re-
turn to the main Oregon Trail route. Howard Stanfield,
a young traveler from Indiana, accompanied Jacobs'
train. He and other members of the train referred to
Bridger's route as the "Yellowstone Cutoff""

The third train of over one hundred wagons took the
Bridger Cutoff on June 4, under the leadership of Cap-
tain Allensworth. Cornelius Hedges, one of the mem-
bers of the train, provides the principal source of infor-
mation regarding the day-to-day events experienced by
this party of travelers along the Bridger Trail. Hedges
was very well-educated for a trail pioneer. He had
earned a degree from Yale, studied law at Harvard, then
became both a lawyer and newspaper publisher in his
home state of Iowa."* He was destined to become a
prominent figure during Montana's territorial period,
and later, in early statehood.

Another train of over one hundred wagons assembled
for departure on the Bridger Trail by June 10, under
the leadership of Joseph Knight. Knight had been on
the North Platte River since at least 1 854, when he was
employed to work on Richard's bridge, and he remained
in the region as a trader.'" Robert Vaughn traveled
with this train all the way to Virginia City. He recalled
in his 1898 reminiscence that while at Fort Laramie
his party met John Bozeman on or about June 5, who
"sought to organize a train to take the cut-off route east
of the Big Horn mountains. There was also a man by
the name of McKnight, who was a trader at this place.
He had two wagons loaded with goods for Alder Gulch
. . . and he was getting up a train to go west of the Big
Horn mountains and through the Wind River country."
Vaughn remembered that the train consisted of "four
hundred and fifty men and over one hundred wagons."
Before starting north on the trail, all members of the
party signed an agreement "to stand by and defend each
other at all hazards. . . ."-"

William Alderson and his brother John emigrated
from Illinois and were members of one of the smaller
trains that took the Bridger Cutoff on June 15. The
train consisted of 46 wagons— 1 2 horse-drawn wagons,
16 ox-drawn wagons, and 18 mule-drawn wagons.-'
The members of the train chose Joe Todd as the cap-
tain. One week later, two midwestem school teachers
were members of a train consisting of approximately
one hundred wagons that departed the Bridger Cutoff
on June 22. Charles Baker and William Atchison emi-
grated from two small communities in northern Illi-
nois and may have known each other prior to the for-
mation of their train near the cutoff Both men kept
detailed diaries describing their trip along the trail to
Virginia City. Ethel Maynard and Reverend Jonathon

Jim Bridger

Blanchard, prominent Presbyterian and Congregation-
alist minister and president of Wheaton College in Illi-
nois, were also members of this train. Trader Bob
McMinn, known as Rocky Mountain Bob to the dia-
rists, was their guide.--

'" Jack J. Detzler, ed.. Diary of Howard Stilhvell Stanfield:
Overland Trip from Indiana to California. 1864 via Virginia City.
Montana Territory. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1969), 56-57.

" Wyllys A. Hedges, "Cornelius Hedges." Contributions to the
Historical Society of Montana 7 (1910):181-196, pp. 181-83;
Dorothy M. Johnson, The Bloody Bozeman: The Perilous Trail to
Montana's Gold (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971), 1 12-13.

'" Robert A. Murray, "Trading Posts, Forts and Bridges of the
Casper Area: Unraveling the Tangle on the Upper Platte," Annals
of Wyoming 47, (1975), 12; Charles H. Ramsdell, An Epic of the
Middle West: Excerpts fi-om the Personal Diaiy of the Late
William Emoiy Atchison in 1864. (Minneapolis: Charles H.
Ramsdell and J. E. Haynes, 1933), 8. Also see John S. Gray,
"Blazing the Bridger and Bozeman Trails," .Annals of Wyoming
49(1977), 44.

-" Robert Vaughn, Then and Now: Or. Thirty-Six Years in the
Rockies. (Minneapolis: Tribune Printing Co., 1900), 24-25.

-' Gray, Bridger and Bozeman Trails, 44.

-- Charles W. Baker, "The Diary of Charles W. Baker, April 21,
1864-September 1867. Trip via Covered Wagon & Mules to
Virginia City, Montana, from Polo, Illinois." Montana Historical
Society, Helena. Typescript of original diary. SC 1275, Folder 1/
1; Ramsdell, Atchison Diaiy; Robert H. Keller Jr, "The 1864
Overland Trail: Five Letters from Jonathan Blanchard."
Nebraska Histoiy 63 (1982):71-86; Ethel Albert Maynard
Reminiscence. Montana Historical Society, Helena. SC 2008,
Folders 1 and 2.

rpnng

19QS

Bridger Trail Trains in 1864: Order of

Departure, Prominent

Members, Number of Wagons

May 20

Jim Bridger (guide); L. B, Statler, 0. B.
Whitford, B. F. Bisel. Abram Morgan

ca. 62-100 wagons, 300 men

May ?

Train of Independents

1 0 wagons

Amede Bessett, John Richard. Jr., Baptiste |

Fourier, Jose Miravel

May 30

John Jacobs (guide), Howard Stanfield,
William Bartlett, Jennison Perkins

67 wagons, 2 1 8 men

June 4

Capt. Allensworth, Cornelius Hedges

More than 100 wagons

June 10

Joseph Knight (guide), James Roberts.
Robert Vaughn

129 wagons, 350-430 men

June 15

Capt. Joe Todd, William Alderson, John
Alderson

46 wagons

June 22

"Rocky Mountain Bob" McMinn (guide).

More than 100 wagons, 300

Charles Baker, William Atchison, Ethel

men, 15 families with

Maynard, Re\. Jonathon Blanchard, Rev.

children

Hugh Duncan

June 24

Capt. Rollins (guide), William Haskell

More than 60 wagons, 200
men (30 wagons turned back)

July 1 3

Capt. Joseph Stafford, Frank Kirkaldie

70 wagons and ca. 125 men

Sept. 18

Jim Bridger (guide), Maj. John Owen,
Samuel Anderson

ca. 10 wagons, 25 men

Frank Kirkaldie was a member of a train that de-
parted Red Buttes on July 13 for the Bridger Trail. "I
am on a new route to the gold regions-w hich has been
opened the present season— Major Bridger having con-
ducted the first train. . . . Our old Captain Stafford was
unanimously elected Captain and the train comprises
seventy wagons and about 125 men."-- The final trip
along the Bridger Trail was documented by the veteran
trader and Indian Agent, Major John Owen in Septem-
ber and October 1864. This train was also guided by
Jim Bridger, and seems fitting that he guided the first
and last trains of the season. Traveling eastward on his
trail, Bridger had returned to Fort Laramie from Vir-
ginia City. By August 3. he was reinstated as scout on
the government payroll.-'*

At the time of its publication, Owen's diary was con-
sidered the only extant discussion of travel over the
Bridger Trail. "He [Owen] had often expressed inter-
est in the possibility and creation of this road, and evi-
dently seized the opportunity to use it with his wagons

during its construction, as
a member of a train under
the command of Bridger
himself Thus, he was one
of the first to travel over
It. Owen's diary of the
journey, as here tran-
scribed, is the only ac-
count of the sort that is
known to exist."-" Today
several extant diaries,
journals, and reminis-
cences con-elate the dis-
cussion of the Bridger
Trail as outlined in
Owen's narrative of trail
travel, and from the addi-
tional information, it is in-
teresting to note that the
trip made by Owen and
Bridger was. in fact, the
last trip made in 1 864, not
the first, as suggested by
Dunbar and Phillips.
Owen's tlrst diary entries
list approximately twenty-
five men who made the
trip; however, some of the
names are scratched out.
and Jim Bridger's name
does not appear at all.-*
Regrettably, Owen failed to supply any figures for the
number of wagons in the party; we can only estimate
that it may have been between ten and twenty.

A small train departed on the Bridger Trail a few
days behind Bridger's first party. This party, known
as the Independents in diary entries, consisted of ten
wagons. The men in this train were experienced trad-
ers and needed no guide, especially if they were only a
few days behind the trace beins made bv Bridser's large

-' Franklin L, Kirkaldie, "The Letters of Franklin Luther
Kirkaldie, May I, 1864-Mareh 30, I860," 14-16. Montana
Historical Society, Helena. Franklin Luther Kirkaldie Family
Papers, Typescript of Letters. SC 160, Folder 2.'2.

-"* Cecil J. Alter. Jim Bridge?-. (Norman: L'ni\ersity of
Oklahoma Press, l%2), 309.

--"' Seymour Dunbar, ed., and Paul C. Phillips, The Journals and
Letters of Major John Chven: Pioneer of the Northwest. 1850-
1871, 2 vols. The Montana Historical Society. (Portland. Maine:
Southworth Press, 1927), I, 309.

-'' Dunbar and Phillips, Major John Chven, I, 310.

Annals of WyomingrTke Wyoming History Journal

train. John Richard Jr., Baptiste Fourier, Amede
Bessette, and Jose Miraxal were the prominent mem-
bers of the party.-' Richard was the half-Sioux son of
John Baptiste Richard Sr., who constructed the lower
Platte Bridge on the Oregon Trail, six miles east of
Fort Caspar, in time to serve the heavy emigrant traffic
in 1853.

The availability of water and feed for their stock was
of paramount importance to emigrants. This factor,
coupled with the physical condition of the road, influ-
enced their decision concerning which route to take as
much or more than the threat of Indian hostilities. The
only solution to lost livestock was to acquire replace-
ment animals at one of the forts located along the Or-
egon Trail or possibly at the posts near the Platte
bridges. When animals gave out or died along the trail,
substitutes were often provided by "others in the train
who had a surplus of animals."-* The Bridger and
Bozeman Trails each possessed water and forage vital
for livestock; however, there were portions of each trail
where w ater and grass for the stock was sorely lacking,
especially the former. The time of season along the
trail and the order in which the trains departed the
trailhead not only dictated the flow and quality of the
water along the trail, but the availability of pasture for
the stock as well. Overall, the Bozeman Trail pos-
sessed adequate to abundant sources of water and grass;
while along the Bridger Trail, these essential natural
resources were less available, and loss of livestock along
the latter trail was the norm, not the exception, as
Bridger Trail diaries make clear.

Emigrants taking the Bridger Cutoff in 1864 found
the tlrst portion of the trail to Badwater Creek quite
arid, even in the spring; consequently, grass and game
were not abundant. The availability of resources in-
creased as emigrants continued north along the trail;
how ever, there were some long drives without water in
the central portion of the Big Horn Basin. Water, grass,
and game increased as the trail entered Montana and
passed down Clarks Fork to its junction with the
Bozeman Trail near Rock Creek. Several emigrant dia-
ries contain daily descriptions of the resources, or the
lack thereof, and the condition of the road, which var-
ied from good to poor. The most prevalent observation
by emigrants along the first seventy-five miles of the
trail was the lack of good water, or any water at all, and
limited pasture for their animals. Howard Stanfield
recalled during the first week of June that "the first
three or four days on the new road feed and water were
most fearfully scarce that we crossed what was almost
a desert 70 miles in width on which we had a tight

pinch to get grass for our stock."-'^ Water was in such
short supply that several of the trains were forced to
dig wells in the dry stream beds to get any water for
their stock.^°

Once emigrants reached Badwater Creek at the base
of the Bridger Mountains, water and feed ceased to be
such a serious problem. Most of the trains found their
first good supply of water and grass on Bridger Creek,
a tributary of Badwater. Most of the trains stopped at
this location to rest their tired stock and recuperate.
Bridger Creek provided a practical and well-watered,
albeit uphill, route over the mountain range to the Kirby
Creek drainage that led down to the Big Horn River,
three or four days journey to the northwest. Substan-
tial evidence exists to support the portion of the trail
route along Bridger Creek. Extant on a sandstone cliff
face just east of Bridger Creek are emigrant names in-
cised on the rock formation, located east of the ranch
house on Herold Day's Bow and Arrow Ranch. One
of the emigrants, W. D. Walden, most likely accompa-
nied Bridger in the first train. Walden inscribed a June
1 , 1 864, date on the rock, along with his name. Bridger
departed on May 20, allowing eleven days to travel
from Red Buttes to the location of the cliff on the east
side of Bridger Creek. Major Owen's diary mentions
that it took 9 days (September 1 8-26) to reach Bridger
Creek, and on the 10th day, they passed this point along
the trail.-'' As shown on the 1 885 GLO plats, the Bridger
Trail continued north into the southeastern region of
the Big Horn Basin via the Kirby Creek drainage that
would take the trail to the Big Horn River. The diaries
of Charles Baker, Cornelius Hedges, and William
Haskell discuss the travails of traveling up Bridger
Creek and down Kirby Creek.

The first train guided by Jim Bridger was also the
first to reach the Big Horn River. Here they built a
ferry or log raft to carry the wagons over to the west
side of the river. The various trains that followed all
utilized the ferry to transport the wagons, while swim-
ming the stock across the river. The exact location of

■^ Gray, Bridger and Bozeman Trails, 42.

-* Thomas B. Marquis, Memoirs of a White Crow' Indian
(Thomas H. LeForge). G^ew York: The Century Co., 1928, 10.

-' Detzler, Stanfield Diary, p. 57.

'" James Roberts, "Diary of James Roberts: Notes of Travel
While on My Journey Overland from Dodgeville, Wisconsin to
the Gold Mines in Idaho, 1864." Wisconsin State Historical
Society, Madison. Typescript of original diary. Collection No.
00823/2396-15, pp. 22-23. Along this stretch of the trail in
September, Major Owen commented about "the remains of quite
a number of dead oxen strewn along the road . . . ."

^' Dunbar and Phillips, Major John Owen, I, 311-12.

Spring 1998

the river crossing is not known, although it occurred
somewhere below the mouth of K.irby Creek and present
Lucerne, Wyoming. The 1 892 GLO map does not show
the crossing; it shows the Bridger Trail heading east
along the south side of Kirby Creek, where it termi-
nates short of the Big Horn Ri\ er opposite Lucerne.
The probable and logical place to have crossed the Big
Horn River seems to have been north of the mouth of
Kirby Creek. Diarists Cornelius Hedges, Charles Baker,
William Atchison, William Haskell, and Howard
Stantleld all discuss crossing the river on a ferry built
by Bridger's train and left to be used by those trains
that followed. After coming down Kirby Creek and
reaching the Big Horn, none of the diarists speak of
continuing downriver before crossing. The GLO plats
do not depict the exact route of the river crossing; how-
ever, they do show that once across the river, the trav-
elers remained on the west side as they headed north.
Confusion occurs with regard to the location of the
crossing when Major Owen's description of the river
crossing is utilized out of context. This is possible due
to the time of year (October 9) when he and Bridger
reached the Big Horn River, the time of year when the
river would be at its lowest possible average flow.'-
All trains arriving earlier in the season (June and early
July) ferried across the river due to high water and had
some difficulty as indicated by the diary entries above.
Not so for Owen's party. There is no mention of a
ferry, and he matter-of-factly states that his party
crossed the river three times!

The Bridger Trail departed the Big Horn River
near Nowood Creek and headed northwest ap-
proximately thirteen miles to the Greybull River, the
next important source of water along the route; how-
ever, there is no crossing of the river shown on the
GLO survey plats. The trail stops just short of the river.
None of the emigrant diaries mention crossing the
Greybull at a specific location; although some do men-
tion crossing, they only discuss the mileage, which
varies. Because the water level tluctuates between early
June and August due to spring rains and melting moun-
tain snow pack, there may have been more than one
practical location to cross the river, depending on the
date of arrival. Once across, they traveled along the
north side of the Greybull before again heading north.
Howard Stanfield crossed the Greybull on June 1 3 and
"camped on the opposite side that night." The next
day, "we only made a short drive of 12 miles up the
river and camped" to rest and water the li\estock.--'
According to the GLO plats, the trail on the north side

of the Greybull is approximately fifteen miles from the
crossing to what is called the big bend in the river where
the trail leaves the Greybull and heads north.

The exact route of the Bridger Trail north of the
Greybull to the Shoshone River and Montana border is
more problematic. The original GLO plats were sur-
veyed between twenty and thirty years after the trail
was traversed by the ten emigrant trains in 1 864. The
trace left by hundreds of wagons and thousands of head
of stock seems likely to have been quite visible during
the land survey and is included on the maps to the ex-
clusion of anxthing else in this region at the time of the
surveys. The 1 864 diaries and the GLO plats, help dis-
pel what appear to be inaccuracies regarding the route
on the USGS maps, in oral histories, and personal remi-
niscences.

The 1 883 GLO plat picks up the trail about one mile
north of the Greybull, and the trail north to the Shoshone
River passed through some of the driest country in the
Big Horn Basin, especially for those trains coming
through in July. To complicate matters, the emigrants
first had to negotiate Emblem Bench, circumvent
Bridger Butte, then make a steep descent down the
Devil's Backbone into the Coon Creek Valley. Ac-
cording to the GLO plats, the distance along the Bridger
Trail from the Greybull River to the Shoshone River
was approximately twenty-se\ en miles. The trail went
due north across Emblem Bench and Dry Creek, then
northwest, passing southwest of Bridger Butte to the
descent of "Devil's Backbone," a typical badlands en-
vironment, then across Coon Creek and Whistle Creek
before reaching the Shoshone River. Field observations
noted that swales and a narrow road cut \\ ere apparent
on the steep descent of the Devil's Backbone, validat-
ing the descriptions of the descent found in the emi-
grant diaries; they discuss the route north to the
Shoshone and the distances traveled coincide with the
mileage shown on the GLO plats. Howard Stantleld's
train left the Grevbull River camp early on the morn-
ing of June 15; "a part of us reached Stinking Water
[Shoshone River] about seven in the evening after a
long hot dustry [sic] thirsty drive of 28 miles." On
July 6, Charles Baker "[d]rove 30 miles without grass
or water— Ver\' desert countrv -aniv ed at Stinking River
at 5 O.C. Went down 2 mi. & camped. "'"'

'- Dunbar and Phillips. Major John fhteii. I. .■'1.''

" Detzler, Stanfield Diary, 61.

'' Detzler, Stanfield Diary, 61-62; Baker, Duny.

Annals or Wyoming :The Wyoming History Journal

The first three trains, led by Jim Bridger, John Jacobs,
and Captain Allensworth, respectively, were within a
few days of each other from the time of their departure
at Red Buttes. This is evident by the reference to the
use of the ferry at the crossing of the Big Horn River.
In fact, on June 1 7, Hedges "Met two of Bridger's men
and found they were only 12 miles ahead. "^-^ There-
fore, although mileage estimates varied due to the record
keeping of the individual diarist, its seems highly im-
probable, because the trains were traveling so close to-
gether, that any train took a route other than the one
laid out by Jim Bridger, who was not only guiding the
first train but also making improvements along the
route. Stanfield and Hedges accompanied the second
and third trains, respectively, and surely followed on
the heels of Bridger's train; and Baker and Haskell were
a couple of weeks behind Hedges.

The Shoshone River was a suitable location for rest-
ing stock and emigrants after the long, dry, arduous
push north of the Greybull. By June 18, four trains,
including the small train of independents, were now
camped on the north side of the Shoshone.-'^ Bridger's
lead train had traveled slower than the rest, because he
located the initial route and did some work on the road.
The two trains led by Jacobs and Allensworth had
caught up to Bridger, who was resting on the north
side of the river. A member of Jacobs' train, Howard
Stantleld wrote on June 1 8, "We are at the same camp
we had last night where we have remained all day we
are the middle train of three. Bridgers numbering one
hundred wagons '/2 mile ahead and Allensworth con-
sisting of 88 wagons just crossed the River today so
there are a goodly number of white men in this part of
the country at the present time."'^ Cornelius Hedges, a
member of AUensworth's train, wrote on June 18,
"Bridger's and Jacob's [sic] trains near us All sorts of
stories~206 miles on the Cut-off """* This accumula-
tive presence of Euro-Americans in 1 864 was undoubt-
edly the largest concentration, to date, of non-Indians
ever assembled in the Big Horn Basin.

Bridger's train departed the river the next day on June
1 9 and headed up Sage Creek toward the Montana bor-
der.^' However, since June 19 was a Sunday, Stanfield
and Hedges and their respective trains remained en-
camped; it is possible that Bridger's train may have
stayed as well.^" While the trains laid over along the
Shoshone, several men went out on prospecting forays
and some went out to hunt. Names and dates incised
on sandstone rock formations at Signature Rock
(Site 48BH 188), between Cowley and Byron, corre-
spond to the individual dates of various Shoshone River

crossings and layovers. They also indicate the route
taken up the valley of Sage Creek. Field reconnais-
sance confirmed the location and authenticity of these
inscriptions.^' Benton Garinger of Ohio left his name
for posterity on June 19; he may have been a member
of Bridger's train, but more likely was a member of
one of the trains led by either Jacobs or Allensworth.
Travelling with Allensworth, Hedges stayed in camp
on June 1 9 and 20. Stanfield laid over on June 1 9, and
on the 20th, he "traveled a short distance today. . . .
stoped [sic] the rest of the day to let the stock graze . . .
near small creek";'*- this small creek was most likely
Sage Creek, approximately five miles north of the
Shoshone. On June 29, T. B. McNeal of Ohio added
his name to the cliff face. Although it is not clear which
train he was with, it appears that he accompanied the
fourth train that was about eight to ten days behind
Allensworth. Three weeks after Bridger, J. Housel left
his name on July 8; he was probably a member of
Charles Baker's train that crossed the Shoshone River
on July S.'*^ Four additional names, W. M. McCoy, D.
A. Leaky, Wm. Henry, and S. Magee, were added to
the cliff face on July 14, corresponding to William
Haskell's train that crossed the Shoshone River on July
1 4. These inscriptions are very significant because they
substantiate the correct route of the Bridger Trail
through an area deficient in historic evidence concern-
ing the trail route."""*

The trail headed northwest and north from the
Shoshone approximately five miles to Sage Creek.
About one mile south of Sage Creek, the trail passed
through a small gap in Signature Rock that is part of

" Cornelius Hedges, "Diary of Cornelius Hedges," 15. 1864.
Montana Historical Society, Helena. Typescript of original diary.
Cornelius Hedges Family Papers, MSS Collection 33, Box 2,
Folder 4.

-"' Gray, Bridger and Bozeman Trails, 43.

" Detzler, Stanfield Diaiy, 63.

^* Hedges, Dian\ 15.

^' Gray, Bridger and Bozeman Trails. 43.

•"' Hedges, Dian; 15; Detzler, Stanfield Diary, 64.

■" The author visited the site in July 1996. Photographs and
videotape were taken on-site.

■*- Detzler, Stanfield Dian; p. 64.

^^ Baker Diary.

*^ William S. Haskell, "William S. Haskell Diary," 14.
Montana Historical Society, Helena. Typescript of original 1864
diary. SC 806, Folder 1/1. The inscriptions incised on the
sandstone formations at Site 48BH188 are weathering quite well,
and most are very legible; some, however, are becoming hard to
read, due to wind and water erosion, and some, like D. A. Leaky,
while quite legible, have suffered from the impacts of gunshots by
vandals.

rpring

1998

MILES

100

MAYNADIER'S ROUTE-1860
BRIDGER TRAIL

■— OREGON/MORMON/
CALIFORNIA TRAILS

Map by Suzanne Lithr. TRC Mariah Associates

Annals of Wyoming :The Wyoming History Journal

the larger divide between the Shoshone River and Sage
Creek. The trail diaries, GLO plats, the emigrant names
on Signature Rock, and field reconnaissance, leave little
doubt concerning the route of this portion of the Bridger
Trail north of the Shoshone to Sage Creek, a route that
is not shown on the USGS topographic quadrangles.
Once in Montana, the trail headed north-northwest
along the east side of Sage Creek to Bridger Canyon
and the headwaters of Bridger Creek then continued
due west along the north side of Bridger Creek. Head-
ing due north, the trail left Bridger Creek and headed
to the crossing of Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River,
southeast of Bridger, Montana. Bridger's route con-
tinued north along the west side of Clarks Fork to Rock
Creek. This route is part of the Nez Perce Trail.'*'

The 1864 Bozeman Trail, heading southwest along
the north side of Rock Creek, merged with the Bridger
Trail where it tlrst crossed Rock Creek, approximately
one mile east of Joliet. Bozeman crossed Clarks Fork
just above its confluence with the Yellowstone and pro-
ceeded south up the west side of Clarks Fork to Rock
Creek. However, the 1891 GLO plat shows the Old
Bozeman Trail merging with Bridger's trail approxi-
mately three miles southeast of Rock Creek near Edgar,
Montana. This is the route opened by James Sawyers'
expedition in summer 1 866; prior to that, the Bozeman
Trail merged with the Bridger Trail at the above men-
tioned location east of Joliet. From that point on, ex-
cept for minor variations, the combined trail followed
Bridger's route to Virginia City.

The trail continued northwest across Rosebud Creek
and the Stillwater River west of Absarokee, Montana,
then west to Bridger Creek and down that creek to the
Yellowstone River. It continued west along the south
side of the Yellowstone, crossed Boulder River near
Big Timber, Montana, and continued along the
Yellowstone for about sixteen miles to the crossing near
Hunter Hot Springs and present Springdale, Montana,
approximately seven miles east of the Shields River.'**
In 1866 John Bozeman established a ferry at the
Yellowstone ford. Once across the Yellowstone, mem-
bers of the three leading trains melded together so that
the individual trains could no longer be distinguished.
Jim Bridger led most of the wagons west along the
north side of the Yellowstone, then north up the Shields
River, west up Brackett's Creek and over the southern
end of the Bridger Mountains, then down Bridger Creek
to the Gallatin River west of Bozeman, Montana. John
Jacobs took a few wagons over what is now Bozeman
Pass to the Gallatin River.'*'

Between July 5 and 8, Stanfield described the
disintegration of the trains along that portion
of the route from the Yellowstone to the Gallatin River
Valley.

[LJeft the Yellowstone. . . . our old train (what was left
of it) Split all to pieces some going with Jacobs other
with Bridger. . . . [6th] Caught up with Bridger. . . . our
old guide Jacobs concluded that he knew of a shorter
& better road ... to our destination and consequently
turned off with eleven wagons instead of the 66 ... he
had up to Clarks fork. I understand that we have a
mountain to cross tomorrow our train number from two
to three hundred wagons. . . . [8th] we emerged from
the canon [Bridger Canyon] onto the open plain the
train is now broken to peices [sic] and it is who can
reach Virginia first the plain being covered with small
train of two to six wagon. . . . We crossed the Gallatin
fork of the Missouri this afternoon.''*

A synthesis of source materials has resolved mul-
tiple questions, inaccuracies, and romantic assumptions
associated with the Bridger Trail. The daily crucible
of emigrants who originally used the trail, its resources,
and terrain, are now significantly understood; many of
their identities have come to light; available statistical
information concerning occupational and settlement
patterns, albeit fi-agmented, has been compiled for those
emigrants who traveled first to Virginia City in search
of gold, then dispersed to settle in the valleys and com-
munities of western Montana; and, for the first time,
there is a distinct understanding of the overall trail route,
with emphasis on detailed clarification of previously
ambiguous portions of the route.

■*' Although labeled the Nez Perce Trail on modern maps, the
trail is not labeled as such on the 1900 GLO plats. This trail is
associated with the flight of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perces
during the summer of 1 877, as they exited Yellowstone Park with
the U.S. Army in pursuit, bound for exile in Canada. The Bridger
Trail was laid out 1 3 years prior to this event. The label Nez Perce
Trail is misleading. Although they had adopted the mounted bison
economy and seasonally migrated onto the Northern Plains to
hunt, the Nez Perces were unfamiliar with this route prior to 1 877.
See Francis Haines, The Nez Perces: Tribesmen of the Columbia
Plateau. (Norman; University of Oklahoma Press, 1955), 208,
298-303; Robert M. Utley, The Indian Frontier of the American
West. 1846-1890^ (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press, 1984), 190-93.

^^ Vaughn, Then and Now, 34; Maynard, Reminiscence, 36, SC
2008, Folder No. 1.

■" Marquis, White Crow Indian, 1 3; Gray, Bridger and Bozeman
Trails, 43. To avoid confusion, it should be noted that there are
three different Bridger Creeks along the route from the Wyoming-
Montana border to the Gallatin 'Valley.

■** Detzler, Stanfield Diary, pp. 70-71.

Spring IQQS

The Bridger Trail route portrayed above is substanti-
ated by a review of tiie original GLO survey maps.
The trail is labeled on these maps variously as Bridger
Trail, Bridger Road, or Old Bridger Road. Several
diaries and journals compiled by the original travelers
along the Bridger Trail in 1864 corroborated the route
shown on the GLO plats and the approximate distances
between notable landmarks and water crossings. There-
fore, the GLO plats, in conjunction with contemporary
observations, appear to be the most reliable source for
mapping Jim Bridger's trail.

In the past. Lieutenant Ma\nadier received credit for
discovering the Bridger Trail route north through the
Big Horn Basin. ^" However, he did not traverse the
Red Buttes to Badwater Creek section; he did not know
of or travel the Bridger Creek/Kirby Creek route over
the Bridger Mountains; he failed in the initial attempt
to find an adequate route once in the southernmost re-
gion of the Big Horn Basin; he followed a decidedly
different route between the GreybuU and Shoshone Riv-
ers, which included crossing the Shoshone far upstream
from that of Bridger in 1 864; and he followed a differ-
ent route once along Clarks Fork to the Yellowstone.
This clearly places the responsibility for locating the
Bridger Trail route with Jim Bridger.

In retrospect, the most significant aspect of the
Bridger Trail is its importance as an interregional trans-
portation route in the West that tunneled a large num-
ber of emigrants (approximately 25 percent of the 1 864
population of Virginia City) into Montana during a
single trail season, many of whom settled, rose to promi-
nence in their communities, and made important con-
tributions to territorial development and, later, during
statehood. Occupations for those emigrants listed in
the pioneer register (90) who took the Bridger Trail are
overwhelmingly oriented toward agriculture: fanners
and stockmen (23.3 percent and 12.2 percent, respec-
tively, and 4.4 percent who practiced both, for a total
of almost 40 percent). Occupations in the mining in-
dustry came in a distant second ( 10 percent); women,
whether wives or unmarried young women, accounted
for a larger number of the population than miners ( 14.4
percent). Other occupations listed included merchants
(5.6 percent), freighters and teamsters (3.3 percent),
ministers (3.3 percent) lawyers (2.2 percent), and car-
penters (2.2 percent). Bankers, physicians, blacksmiths,
wagon makers, editors, brewers, and real estate specu-
lators, each made up approximately 1 . 1 percent of those
who arrived via the Bridger Trail. These ninety emi-
grants made up 5 percent of the 1,808 pioneers listed
in the register, representing a diversified cross section
of those settlers who made Montana their home.'"

23_

The Bridger Trail was a viable alternative to the Or-
egon Trail and its variants to reach Virginia City, Mon-
tana. Contrary to Raynolds' report of 1 860, Bridger's
trail not only successfully traversed the Bighorn Ba-
sin, a "region. . . . totally unfit for either rail or wagon
roads," but proved to be much more popular with emi-
grants in 1864 than the Bozeman Trail; its viability as
an alternative route was assured when at least ten trains
traveled the Bridger Trail versus only tbur that took
the Bozeman Trail that year. However, sparse re-
sources—water, forage, and game—rugged terrain, the
lack of travel on either trail in 1865 when the federal
government closed the route to emigrant traffic, the
fact that the United States Army favored the Bozeman
route in 1866, and the completion of the Union Pacific
Railroad in 1 869, were important factors that rendered
the Bridger Trail obsolete and precluded any major use
of the trail as an important regional transportation route
until after initial settlement in northern Wyoming Ter-
ritory during the early 1880s.

That Jim Bridger was fortunate to live a long life,
ensured he was the only practical choice as guide for
important duty assignments; and when military explo-
rations began in the 1850s, Bridger was one of a few
left, and undoubtedly the best yet alive, to be entrusted
with the lives of enlisted men, emigrants, and govern-
ment and private property. In one respect. Bridger's
participation in an astounding number of important
endeavors that, in large and small ways, helped to dis-
cover and settle the West, is due in large part to his
being in the right place at the right time in American
history; therefore, Bridger's rich historical legacy as
one of the most renowned explorers and guides in
American histor\ lends important significance to the
trail that bears his name.

" Jackson, ll'ngon Roads It'csl, p. 267; Goet/niann, Armv
Exploration, p. 420.

■" Sanders, Pioneers Register.

James A. Lowe is employed as Historian ami Archae-
ologist for TRC Mariah Associates. Environmental
Consultants. Laramie. A graduate of the University- of
Wyoming, he holds the M. A. in history from i'lV. This
article is adapted from a chapter in his hook on the
Bridger Trail, published by Arthur H. Clark Com/ianv.

^hlGM/ITIC icon:

Th+C Uf^e mo TIMG9 Of^
H-I\RRY YOUnT

WILLIAM R. SUPGRMkUGH-

The resource protection focus
of today's law enforcement
Park Ranger of the U. S. De-
partment of the Interior's National
Park Service (>1PS) is, by some his-
torians, traced back to Yellowstone,
the first national park, and one of its
earliest employees. Harry Yount. To-
day, Harry Yount is securely posi-
tioned in the legend and culture of
the Service. Thanks to the efforts of
NPS historians and ephemera collec-
tors, Harry Yount is commemorated
and remembered by the bureau which
did not come about until 1916, 35
years after he was employed at
Yellowstone.

Best known for the two reports he
wrote as Yellowstone's first and only
gamekeeper, Yount's life before and after his brief but
compelling tenure at the Park remains virtually untold.
This article attempts to gather the available references
from official records and the popular literature relating
to the NPS into a single monograph from which more
scholarly investigations may, in time, flesh out the story
of the man who lies behind the legend and myth which
has given rise to a figure of heroic proportion.

Yellowstone National Park collection. National Park Service

Harry Yount

William R. Supernaugh is superintendent of
Badlands National Park, South Dakota.

Little is known about Yount's early years. His
given name had, until recently, been lost and
he has been referred to in print variously as
"Harry C. Yount" and "Harry S. Yount."' The most
informative look into Yount's personal history comes
from a series of interviews conducted between 1921
and 1924, by Thomas J. Bryant and published in the
Annals of Wyoming.- This is the only known first-per-
son account of Yount's early life and. while tantaliz-
inglv incomplete, it offers valuable insights into his
pre-Yellowstone years.

According to Bryant's recordings, Harry Yount's
family tradition referred to the arrival of two brothers
with the name of "YOUNKERS" who settled at
Younkers (now Yonkers), Nev\ York. One of the broth-
ers, it was said, moved west to Penns\ 1\ ania where the
famiU name underwent a change from Younkers to
Yount. Harr\ indicated to Bryant that he had a brother
who lived in Illinois and two brothers who had settled
in California man> \ears pre\ ious to the interview.
Bryant concluded that Harry had lost all contact with
his relatives over the years.'

Family lore aside, nothing has yet been found to sub-
stantiate the earl>' New York ties. Berks County, Penn-
sylvania appears to be the ancestral home of the Younts
in America who trace their roots back to Hans George
and Anna Maria Jundt who arrived, with four of their
five children, at Philadelphia in 1731, from a village
on the Rhine in Alsace."* The fifth child, Andrew Yount,
arrived in Philadelphia in 1751. His children all mi-
grated to Randolph Count\, North Carolina, and are
shown as landowners by the 1 780's, joining their cous-
ins whom had made the trip much earlier. Andrew has
been identified as the progenitor of the Quaker branch
of the Yount family: a son. .lohn, migrated to Missouri,
as did his grown children, all of the Quaker faith. Harry
Yount's place of birth is now believed to be Washing-
ton County, Missouri although his exact birth date re-
mains unconfirmed from public documents.'

Even though 1 847 is given as Harry's date of birth in
one history of Wyoming," Bryant's article speculates
that 1 837 would be more believable based on his per-
ception of the physical evidence of aging and talking
to residents of Wheatland who stated he, "...was bom
in the same year as Grover Cleveland...", placing his
birth in 1837.' The Census, Army Pension Records
and Yount's enlistment papers provide a more prob-
able birth date of 1 839;" Harry provided March 1 8 in a
1915 Pension affidavit. These sources show that
"Harry" was christened Henry S., by which he contin-
ued to be officially know n during his Arniy years ( 1 86 1 -

1865) and continuing through his lengthy correspon-
dence with the Bureau of Pensions between 1 898 and
1915.

Washington County, Missouri, lies approximately 40
miles southwest of St. Louis. The 1850 Census for
Harmony Township, Washington County, Missouri,
identifies eleven-year-old Henry, son of David Yount,

' Scoyen, Eivind T. "The Evolution of thie Protection Func-
tion." Lecture manuscript dated .August II, 1965. 14. Sco\en.
born at old Fort ^'el low stone in IS^Jb. and retiring from the Na-
tional Park Service as .Associate Director in l')62. often lectured
at the Service's Albright Training Center. Grand Canvon. Ari-
zona, on aspects of Service history. His notes, apparently incor-
rect, read "Harry C. Yount." .A published interview with Yount
bv Thomas Julian Brvant, "Harry S. ^ount." Annuls oi Wyoming
3 (1925-26). 171, is consistent with other published accounts.
Bryant's interview includes a reference to a slate colored marble
or fine granite stone carved into the shape of a "book" which he
was shown by Yount and which was incised. "Harry S. ^ount.
Scout and Guide" on the front.

- Bryant, "Harry S. \'ount." Bryant first met Harry Yount on
May 15. 1921. as Harry and two other veterans of the Civil War
were speaking at a program and dinner arranged by a Wheatland.
Wyoming, schoolteacher. The subsequent friendship that grew
between the aged frontiersman and Brvant led to his recording
the reminiscences ^'oiint shared up until his death on Ma> 16.
1924.

' Henry was the tenth often children born to David Yount and
Catherine Shell. Edith W. Huggins. The Yount (Jundtl Family in
Europe and Amenea (Raleigh. N. C: Privately printed. 1986).
218. Brothers Caleb (born 1832) and John (born 1S35) are shown
to have emigrated to the Napa Valley of California. It is pre-
sumed they joined their uncle. George Calvert Yount. an early
California frontiersman and reportedlv the first white man to settle,
in 1831. in the Napa Valley .

* William C. ^■ount. A brief sketch of the origin of the 'S'ount
familv in .America (1936). The relationship of David to John
\'ount has been established as son to father by genealogical work
compiled by Edith W. Huggins in her work on this line of the
^■ount family. (See footnote 3). David was part of the Quaker
immigration from North Carolina to Missouri. Two 'Sount fami-
lies, headed by Ira and .Azariah \'ount, lived near David in 1850
(and each with a son. David), and are two of the older brothers of
Henry (Harry). They are buried in a Quaker Cemeterv near Potosi.
Washington County. Missouri.

^ Civil War Pension Records file SC 825, 586. His birth date
reads "March 18, 18(unreadable)". Huggins' genealogy of the
Yount family provides a date of March 18. 1839. This is consis-
tent with both the census records and subsequent military records.

" Histoiy of Wyoming (Ch'xcSi^o: A. W. Bowen and Company,
Publishers. 1903). cited in Bryant.

" Bryant. 169.

* The 1850 Washington County. Missouri census for Harmony
Township, conducted December 9. 1850, lists household 1258 as
David Yount, a farmer of 55 years of age, born in North Carolina,
and three sons; Caleb age 18, John age 15 and Henrv age 11,
placing his date of birth in 1839. The 1840 census again lists
David with one son under the age of one; this is most likely Henry
(or Harry).

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

as having two older brothers, Caleb and John, still liv-
ing at home. This is consistent with the 1840 census
for the same area, which places one male under five
and two between 10 and 15 in David's household.'^
During his youth he apparently received some educa-
tion in Missouri as he was shown to be passably liter-
ate in later years.

Harry was a two-time Union veteran of the Civil War,
serving first by enlisting in Co. F, Phelps' Regiment of
Missouri Infantry. During this six-month term of ser-
vice (November 19, 1861 to May 12, 1862), he partici-
pated in the events leading to the Battle of Elkhom
Tavern (Pea Ridge), Arkansas, March 6-8.'° On March
5, 1 862 he received a leg wound, was captured, marched
to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and held as a prisoner of war
for 28 days before being exchanged." Yount, who re-
enlisted shortly after mustering out of Phelps' Regi-
ment in May, was enrolled in Co. H, 8th Missouri Cav-
alry for a three-year tenn of service starting on August
9, 1862, in Springfield, Missouri, and ending on July
20, 1865, in Little Rock, Arkansas.'- The 8th Mis-
souri served in the border states of Missouri and Ar-
kansas, seeing action in eleven engagements. Harry
rose through the ranks from private to corporal, then
sergeant and, finally, serving as Company Quartermas-
ter Sergeant.

^ ollowing the war, he came to Wyoming Terri-
t" tory in 1 866 via Nebraska City, Nebraska, site
I of the first Fort Kearny, hiring on as a "bull
whacker" for the Army along the Bozeman Trail be-
tween Fort Laramie and Fort C. F. Smith in southern
Montana, east and north of present-day Yellowstone
National Park.'-' This was during a period of unrest on
the frontier and Yount was reportedly engaged in sev-
eral skirmishes with the Sioux and Cheyenne while
delivering freight. '"'

He also worked for a time as a buffalo hunter in this
general area of Wyoming." According to one source,
Yount had worked as a hunter, trapper, guide and scout
between his discharge from the Army in 1865 and his
employment at Yellowstone in 1 880. For a number of
years he served as a contract hunter for the Smithsonian
Institution, providing specimens of western fauna for
exhibits."'

' v. S. Census Records, Missouri, 1840 and 1850. We also
learn that David Yount was born in North Carolina in 1795 and
that he was apparently a widower or living alone by the time the
1850 census was conducted. David does not appear in the 1860
enumeration for Missouri but his death is given as 1881 in
Huggins, with burial at Lewisburg, Dallas County, Missouri.

'" Civil War Records, National Archives. The Official Records
indicate the 25th, 35th, 36th, 44th, and 59th III.; 2d, 3d, 12th,

15th, 17th, 24th, and Phelp's Mo.; 8th, and 22d Ind.; 4th and 9th
Iowa; 3d Iowa Cav.; 3d and 15th 111. Cav.; 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th
Mo. Cav.; and artillery units from the above states were repre-
sented. Henry S. Yount enlisted in Phelps' Regiment at Rolla,
Missouri October 19, 1861.

" Yount apparently was troubled by leg problems ever after.
His pension claims cite early damage to both legs (rheumatism)
attributed to his having to march barefoot over the cold, wet roads
to Fort Smith following his capture. Under the provisions of the
Act of June 27, 1890, Harry applied for an Invalid Pension for the
war related injuries to his feet. He was awarded a monthly pen-
sion of $6 in November 1892. retroactive to November 1890.
This was raised to $12 in July 1900. Under the provisions of the
Act of May 1 1, 1912, Harry applied for an increased pension and
though the records provided by the National Archives do not in-
dicate if the request was honored, the Wheatland World reported
in January 1913, that Harry's pension was retroactively increased
to $25 per month dating from May 27, 1912.

'- National Archives, Veterans Record; SC 825,586. He en-
listed in Capt. Jones' Company (which soon became Co. H) of
the 8th Missouri Cavalry at Lebanon, Missouri on August 9, 1862
as a Private. He was promoted to Corporal April 14, 1863 and
again to Sergeant. December 9. 1863. On June 13. 1864 he was
promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant. Harry mustered
out at Little Rock, Arkansas on July 20. 1865.

'' John W. Henneberger, "The History of the National Park
Ranger," unpublished manuscript, 1959, 24. An earlier manu-
script prepared by Henneberger and which served as a draft of the
larger treatise, "Preserve and Protect," gives the date of 1866,
which appears to have been extracted from Bryant's work.

'■" Bryant wrote Harry was involved with Indians while first
working for the Army in Wyoming. In the account he reports a
party of Indians followed his ox-drawn wagon, part of a larger
bull train, from near Fort Laramie to Fort C. F. Smith. By re-
maining awake and constantly moving for four days and nights,
the train avoided coming under attack. Harry is reported to have
fired his carbine in response to one Sioux warrior who repeatedly
fired upon the train from horseback, hitting and apparently kill-
ing his horse. Yount recounted the danger of hunting bear and
elk in the "early days" due to the activities of hostile Indians.
While believing the Indians would kill him if they could, he
seemed not to blame the Indians for defending what was their
country originally.

" Bryant. 168. Bryant relates an episode with Yount in which
he states he had. "killed many buffalo for tourists at Cheyenne,
getting a dollar apiece for buffalo tongues alone." Yount also
restates the national policy of the time regarding the relationship
between the Plains Indians and bison. "He said it was a pity to
kill off the buffaloes, which were here in immense numbers, but
it was the only way to get rid of the Indians, as the buffalo was
their main source of subsistence."

"■ Bryant, 168 Yount provided study skins, including moun-
tain lions and "pheasant." The latter likely refer to sharp-tailed
or sage grouse inasmuch as the ringneck pheasant was not estab-
lished in Wyoming until the I880's. Citing Yount's previous
work collecting specimens of wild animals for the Smithsonian
as part of the Hayden Expedition, Spencer F. Baird of the
Smithsonian Institution contacted Yount in October, 1875. A long
list of Rocky Mountain mammal specimens was requested for
use in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia the following
year. (Smithsonian Institution Archives, personal correspondence).
Yount likely complied with the request. Photographs of the expo-
sition reveal a number of wildlife mounts in the exhibit halls.

During a significant portion of this time, Harr\' Yount
had served as a guide and packer tbr the Hayden Geo-
logical Survey, spending seven summers in New
Mexico. Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming.''
Between expeditions with Hayden (approximately
1872-79), Yount spent at least six winters hunting and
trapping the Laramie Range of mountains below
Laramie Peak, where he evidently maintained a cabin.'**

Yount never married. He became engaged to Estella
Braun prior to his arrival in Wyoming. Braun, from a
fanning family in Michigan, had later relocated to De-
troit. She was emplo\'ed as a telegraph operator with
Western Union. During an expedition to the Four Cor-
ners region in 1867-8, he learned that his fiance had
been killed while on vacation when her Detroit-bound
train was invoKed with a collision with another en-
gine.'''

Yellowstone National Park's second superinten-
dent, Philetus W. Norris (1877-82), set the
stage for Yount's entry into the annals of NPS
history.-" A lack of funds and general understanding
of the remote nature of the area handicapped
Yellowstone's first superintendent. He left in 1877,
annoyed at Congress' failure to adequately fund the
park's development. Norris was more successful in
obtaining funds from Congress and an initial appro-
priation of $10,000 was made in 1878, followed by an
increase to SI 5,000 in 1880.-' Norris used SI, 000 of
this w indfall to pay for a year-round position of "Game-
keeper", which had the exclusive objective of report-
ing on the wildlife of Yellowstone National Park and
protecting them from undue slaughter.

No one claims knowledge as to just how the game-
keeper concept came about. Clearly, Norris w anted to
take action to protect the wildlife from indiscriminate
slaughter; hunting was not regulated in Yellowstone
until 1877 and not prohibited until 1883. He indirectly
proposed the position in his report of 1877 wherein he
suggested establishing a game reserve in the park's
northeast comer, particularly the broad Lamar River
valley. --

It is likely that Superintendent Norris' policy of w ild-
life protection and management led to the appointment
of Harry Yount as "gamekeeper" in 1880. Although
instructed to report to Superintendent Norris, Yount
received his appointment from Secretary of the Inte-
rior Carl Schurz and Henneberger surmises that the
position was created by someone in the Secretary's
Office.--' As to why Yount was selected, the record re-
mains unclear. His past experience, familiarity with
the park and contacts with people integral to the park's

exploration and establishment doubtlessly were factors.
Henneberger speculates that Norris likeK tlrst met
Yount during the 1878 Hayden expedition to
Yellowstone for which he was listed as a "wrangler
and packer."-"" Too, as a long-term temporary employee
of the Department of the Interior, (Ha\ den's Survey
was chartered by the Secretary and later folded into the
U. S. Geological Survey) he may have already been
known within the Interior bureaucracy.-'

" Henneberger, citing Bryant. The dates of Hayden 's subse-
quent e.xplorations are not noted but this likely covers the period
1872-1879. Bryant detailed several incidents that Yount related
from his travels \\\\\\ the Ha\den expeditions, including visits to
the cliff ruins of Mesa \ erde and the Grand letons.

''^ Bryant. 165. Bryant recorded several stories about tracking
and killing grizzlv hears near Laramie Peak and in the Laramie
Range. These include references to his returning to his cabin for
supplies or a team of mules, but the general location is not known.

^ Brvant, 167-8. It is unknown if Braun was emploved out
west or where the train wreck occurred that reportedlv took her
life.

-" Hiram Martin Chittenden, Yellowstone Xaliomil Pork (Palo
•Alto: Stanford University Press, 1954), 104-106. Norris succeeded
Nathaniel P. Langford, chosen to be the Park's first superinten-
dent following \'ellowstone's establishment in 1872. .\ princi-
pal in the 1870 W'ashburn-Langford-Doane E.xpedition he later
spoke and wrote widely on the previousK ignored natural won-
ders encountered on that expedition.

-' Norris served until February 1882. \ noted writer about and
explorer of the park, his prime drive seems to have been the con-
struction of roads within Yellowstone to increase access and lure
potential commercial interest. He was responsible for having
built much of the original infrastructure of the park. Henneberger.

-- .'Vubrev Haines. The Yellowstone Sloiy, (Boulder: Lniversitv
Press of Colorado. 1977), 1. 252. Norris proposed that the big-
horn sheep and herds of buffalo, elk, and deer be protected (and
incidently domesticated and sold) bv. "...two or three spirited,
intelligent herdsmen...". Merrill D. Beale. The Story ofMan in
Yellowstone (Yellowstone: Yellowstone Librarv and Museum
.Assoc, 1956), 241, briefly outlines the historv of hunting and
game protection in \'ellowstone.

-' Annual Reports ot the Superintendent. >'ellowstone National
Park, 1880. Appendix A, 50. Yount was in Chevenne. Wyoming
Territory, when notice of his appointment letter, dated June 21.
1880. reached him. He accepted at once but v\as hindered by
unusuallv deep snows and floods in the mountains, requiring him
to travel by train and coach via Ogden. Utah, and Bozeman.
Montana, flnally reaching park headquarters on .luly 6, The posi-
tion paid SI. 000 per annum and was not removable b\ the Super-
intendent, thus truly a Secretarial appointment. Henneberger. 23.

'■" .Aubrev Haines. Yellowstone S'ationul Park' Its Exploration
and Establishment (Washington: NPS, 1974). 143. Secretary of
the Interior Columbus Delano appointed Ferdinand Vandiveer
Havden in 1871. His report on the Yellowstone region added to
the push to set the area aside as a government reservation. He
returned to \'ellov'vstone in 1878; Yount is listed as a member of
the Survev partv ,

-' Haines. 143. The U. S. Geological Survev was created in
1879 by the blending of Hav den's Survev with that of two others.
King's and Powell's.

Annals or WyomingiTne Wyoming History Journal

Ham' Yoiint in the moimtains

"Rocky Mountain Harry" Yount has been described
as, "... a typical leatherstocking frontiersman. He was
rough, tough, and intelligent."-*' After building a win-
ter cabin in the park in 1 880, he became one of the first
white men known to spend time on a year-round basis
in Yellowstone. Independent and resourceful, able to
subsist on his own without close supervision, and hav-
ing a familiarity and know ledge of the natural processes
surrounding him, Harry Yount has become an arche-
typal model for the National Park Ranger. Horace
Albright, a founding father and the second Director of
the National Park Service, wrote of Yount, "After that
first winter alone, with only the geysers, the elk and
the other animals for company, Harry Yount pointed
out in a report that it was impossible for one man to
patrol the park. He urged the fomiation of a ranger force.
So Harry Yount is credited with being the father of the
ranger service, as well as the first national park
ranger."-'

I I arry Yount, for all that his tenure at Yellow-
L^^ stone spanned a mere 14 months, left a lasting
I I legacy. His articulate and insightful 1880 "Re-
port of Gamekeeper" documents his travels through the
Park and his general observations on wildlife and the
inability of one person to adequately protect the park's
resources.-'* He calls for the establishment of a sea-
sonal workforce to protect the wildlife and other park

resources from the depredation of park visitors; a model
that the NPS follows to this day. In addition to his role
as gamekeeper, Yount' s duties included providing meat
for the employees, guiding visiting dignitaries and ac-
companying Superintendent Norris on his explorations
of the Park.

-" Beale, 241.

-' Horace Albright and Frank J. Taylor, Oh. Ranger!: A Book
About the National Parks (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1 929),
5-7, and frontispiece illustration of Harry Yount. This passage is
also quoted in Haines' book.

'* Yount, 1880. Shortly after his July entrance on duty, Yount
met Secretary Schurz and his party, guiding them from near the
southwest corner at the South Madison to the northeast corner at
Clark's Fork canyon. Upon his return to Mammoth Hot Springs
he circumnavigated Yellowstone Lake and explored the area
around Lewis and Shoshone Lakes, remarking on the abundance
of wildlife. After once again returning to Mammoth Hot Springs,
he set out to construct his winter camp at the confluence of the
East Fork (Lamar) and Soda Butte Valleys at a point where he
could guard the elk and bison wintering grounds against hunters.
He concludes his report, dated November 25, 1880, with a strong
recommendation that protection of the wildlife be extended
parkwide. This task, he laments, is too much for one man and he
urges appointing, "...a small, active, reliable police force, to re-
ceive regular pay during the spring and summer at least...". He
continues, "It is evident that such a force could, in addition to the
protection of game, assist the superintendent of the Park in en-
forcing the laws, rules, and regulations for protection of guide-
boards and bridges, and the preservation of the countless and
widely scattered geyser-cones and other matchless wonders of
the Park."

Yount spent the w inter of 1 880-8 1 in his cabin at the
confluence of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Val-
leys, occasionally joined by one or another of the park
employees wintering over at Mammoth Hot Springs,
but general!) alone from November to April.-" His
second and final report in September of 1881 docu-
ments his natural hislor\ and meteorological observa-
tions and summer travels. Also, similar to the one pre-
pared in 1880, he again calls. "... for a small reliable
police force as the most practical way of seeing that
the game is protected from wanton slaughter, the for-
ests from careless use of fire, and the enforcement of
the other all laws, rules, and regulations for the protec-
tion and improvement of the park."

Superintendent Norris, upon his return to the Park in
the spring of 1 88 1 expressed disappointment in Yount"s
perfomiance as it pertained to road maintenance and
de\elopment, a task upon which Norris apparently
placed high priority.'" There was an obvious differ-
ence of opinion as to the worth of the gamekeeper po-
sition. Yount felt that the task of safeguarding the park's
w ildlife w as more than one person could reasonably be
expected to do. During this time, Norris wrote Secre-
tary of the Interior Schurz, indicating that he was rec-
ommending the position of gamekeeper be discontin-
ued, effective Juh' 1, 1882. He expressed the opinion
that Yount, while, "... a sober and trusty man 1 should
ordinarily hire at regular wages as an excellent hunter,
still he is that and nothing else, being by tastes and
habits, a gameslayer and not a game preserver."

In a June letter to Schurz, Norris stated he had ar-
ranged for Yount to resign at the end of the season and
return to Cheyenne. Indeed, Yount tendered his resig-
nation in his 1881 Report of Gamekeeper, citing the
need to, "... resume pri\ate enterprises now requiring
my personal attention."

I I arry Yount's life and travels between his de-
kJa parture from Yellowstone in the fall of 1881
I I and 1912, when he settled in Wheatland, Platte
County, Wyoming, approximateK 70 miles north of
Cheyenne, is as yet largely undocumented." He lived
for a time in Uva, Laramie County. Wyoming; pen-
sion records in his file dated between June. 1891, and
March, 1893, provide his place of residence. Harry re-
portedly homesteaded on a tract of land at the foot of
Sugar Loaf Mountain and subsequently sold it to H.
M. Small. His obituary reported his nearly 40 years of
prospecting in the Laramie Mountains (especially the
Bluegrass District) where he, in conjunction with sev-

eral partners de\eloped e\tcnsi\ e copper and graphite
prospects. His ability to maintain a modest means of
support in his later years is attributed to his successful
development and sale of one claim there. Yount also
discovered and developed a marble quarr\ west of
Wheatland in the i890"s.'- He is reported to have
maintained an interest in prospecting and mineral de-
velopment up until his death. The Wheatland Times.
May 22, 1924, issue, which reported ^'ount's death,
indicates that on the day prior to his death, he had been
seeking a ride into the hills west of Wheatland where
he believed a gold outcrop lay.

Yount died in Wheatland a little after noon on
May 1 6, 1 924. According to witnesses, he had
made his regular morning walk to downtown
from his home in the west part of town, a "modest three
room brick building," with a frame addition. As he
was returning home, "while near the Lutheran church
he was seen ... to sink to the earth where he soon ex-
pired." Yount's death certificate gi\ es the cause of death
as, "Suspended Heart Action" and gives his age as 88;
the latter now appears to be in error and his age was
more likely 85. In accordance with the provisions of
his will, drawn up b\ Mr. Bryant, he was buried in the
Lakeview Cemetery at Cheyenne, "... where all the old
timers he used to know were buried."'"' His grave,
marked b\ a military style marble headstone, reads
"Q.M.SGT HARRY S. YOUNT CO.H MO.CAV."

Harry is gone but his name lives on. Yount (or
Younts) Peak, a major peak in the .Absaroka Range
located on the east side of the Continental Divide ap-

-" Yount, Report of Gamekeeper.

-'" Henneberger, 25.

■' Bryant, 171. \oiint responded to Br\ant in l'?2? that he had
lived in Wheatland for, "ten or twehe years." Pension records
dated in May 1912, provide a Wheatland address.

-'- IVyoming Platte Coioity Herirage. {^'healland: Platte County
E.xtension ftoniemakers Council, 1981), 474-5. Harry S. Yount
filed on 140 acres of land in Laramie County at least as early as
1887. He later lost this through foreclosure where it was pur-
chased by Henry Sturth at a sherilTs sale in .August. 1 895. \'ount
and several partners received a patent March I. 1892. for the
"Yount Marble Placer Mining Claim" in Sec. 3. T24N. R70W.
Si.xth Principal Meridian in Laramie County, comprising appro.xi-
mateh 156 acres. However. Yount had already deeded his one-
eighth interest to Harry Crain in 1889. Overtime, principal own-
ership of this claim also devolved to Sturth. .As of the I970's. the
Yount Marble Placer Claim had been sold several times and fi-
nally had been put into operation, producing crushed marble for
landscaping, aquarium gravel and architecture.

'- Bryant, 175.

Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

proximately 20 miles southeast of Yellowstone National
Park's southeast comer is named in commemoration
of this legendary frontiersman.'^ The headwaters of
the Yellowstone River arise on its flanks and flow into
the Park and Yellowstone Lake.

I I arry Yount is credited with setting the stan-
LhL dards for performance and service by which
I I the public has come to judge the rangers of
today. Now, he lends his name to a recognition pro-
gram that honors NPS employees for the art and sci-
ence of "rangering." The National Park Service, in
1 994, established the Harry Yount Award, given to in-
dividual employees whose, "... overall impact, record
of accomplishments, and excellence in traditional ranger
duties have created an appreciation for the park ranger
profession on the part of the public and other members
of the profession"^'

" Chittenden stated that the peak commemorates Harry Yount.
However, Webster's Biographical Dictionary, (1976 ed.), 1611,
attributes the peak's name to George Concepcion Yount (1794-
1865). George C. Yount, Harry's uncle, is credited with extended
trapping trips into the west during the late 1820s, prior to his
settling in California in the 1830s. Despite this contradiction,
documents provided the author by the U.S. Geological Service,
Office of Geographic Names, substantiate Chittenden's claim.
Both Mae Urbanek, Wyoming Place Names (Boulder: Johnson
Publishing, 1967), 223, and Orrin Bonney and Lorraine Bonney,
Guide to the Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas, (Chi-
cago: Swallow Press, 1977), attribute the name of 12,165-foot
Younts Peak to Harry.

"^ USDI, NPS, 1995. Memorandum from Regional Director,
Midwest Region to Superintendents, Midwest Region, dated Janu-
ary 10, 1995. 6 p. The 1995 award recipient was Richard T. Gale,
Deputy Chief Ranger of the National Park Service, Washington,
D.C.; the 1996 recipient was Tommie Patrick Lee, Chief Ranger
of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona-Utah, and the
1997 recipient was Jim Brady, Superintendent of Glacier Bay
National Park, Alaska. The 1998 Harry Yount Award recognized
Mike Anderson, District Ranger at Cape Hatteras National Sea-
shore, North Carolina.

Ooldlloeks Revisited

By R4»A»eniary O. Palniei*

III the mid- 1960s, historian Francis Haines published an article titled
"Goldilocks on the Oregon Trail" m which he reported that pioneers told
theii" most colorfid stories years cifter an actnal event. But because Haines
did not find similar experiences recorded m trail diaries, he assigned the
tales to the realm of folklore.'

"One such story which crops up again and again in
various reminiscences but is never found in the jour-
nals or diaries, might be called: Goldilocks on the Or-
egon Trail," he wrote. In this story, Haines explained,
Indians on the trail were fascinated with Goldilocks —
a fair-skinned, golden-haired emigrant child three years
old — and they wanted to trade an "entire herd" of horses
for her. More often, though they offered tlve to twenty
animals. Of course, the pioneer mother refused. -

From his study of trail diaries and reminiscences —
how many he did not specify — Haines learned that
only in reminiscences did "Goldilocks" travel "with
many a wagon train."' Sometimes Indians made sev-
eral attempts to buy the female child. Other times a
train captain teased Native Americans by agreeing to
trade a white child or young woman for ponies. Ac-
cording to Haines, "this joking offer by the captain of
the train, or some other man, ...is a motif which recurs
frequently." In fact, about a third of the "Goldilocks"
stories contained the joking friend or relative.'^ Haines
concluded that the tales were based on two common
Anglo-Saxon misconceptions: other people envied
white children and Indians bought their wives. Was
Haines' assessment of "Goldilocks" stories accurate?

Although Francis Haines identified many
"Goldilocks" tales in his selected reminiscences, only
sixteen of 453 accounts of young people who crossed
the plains noted such an incident. Since the exchange
usually involved children or young women, it seems
they 'night have included the experience more fre-
quently in their writings. Fifteen of the sixteen docu-
ments involved a female in the trade. Six writers stated
the event happened to them, nine mentioned someone
else in their train, and one recalled general information

about buying a '"white squaw." Half of the sixteen ac-
counts described the incident as a joke.''

From his unspecified number of diaries, Haines found
only two which described Indians bargaining for chil-
dren. Both were written in 1853. Celinda Hines wrote
that an Indian woman on her way to the Shoshone coun-
try offered to trade her baby for a skirt. In another di-
ary Harriet Sherill Ward recorded that an Indian would
not sell his pony but would swap it for Francis Ward,
an emigrant girl of seventeen.^ Neither account men-
tioned joking about the exchange. Of twenty-three dia-
ries, letters, and journals by young pioneers, one dia-
rist did record this t\pe of jesting. Fifteen-year-old Mary
Eliza Warner wrote in her 1864 diary: "Uncle Chester
traded Aunt Lizzie off for three ponies but she would
not go." According to Aunt Lizzie's trail diary, Indi-
ans bargained for her two different times. ^

Francis Haines, Sr., "Goldilocks on the Oregon Iraii." Idaho
Yesterdays 9 (Winter hXi.^-l '566): 27-30.

- Haines, 27-28

-' Haines, 27-28.

-• Haines, 28.

-^ See Rosemary Gudmundson Palmer, '"Voices from the Trail:
Young Pioneers on the Platte River Road Between 1 84 1 and 1 869,"
Ph.D. diss., University of Wyoming, 1997. This study analyzed
2.-) diaries and letters and 430 reminiscences of children and \oung
adolescents who crossed the plains on the Calilornia-Vlornion-
Oregon Trails.

'' Haines, 29; Celinda Hines, "Life and Death on the Oregon
Trail," in Covered Wagon Women. 1 1 vols. Kenneth L. Holmes,
ed., (Spokane: Arthur E. Clark and Co.. 198.3-1993), 6:120. Ac-
cording to Haines, Celinda Hines said the Indian wanted to trade
her baby for a "skirt." In the Covered H'agon ll'onien account, the
word was "shirt."

' Warner, "Diary," 8; Merrill J, Mattes, Plane River Road Nar-
ratives. (Lirbana: University of Illinois Press. 1988), 587.

Annals of Wyoming:Tke Wyoming History Journal

John Unruh described the "Goldilocks" theme as "one
of the basic components of reminiscent accounts." He
reported that reminiscence writers "were fond of mag-
nifying and even inventing such episodes"; however
he believed 'not all such incidents can be relegated to
the realm of folklore.' Unruh referred to a few trail
diaries which described the event.^ In addition to those
mentioned by Haines and Unruh, several other diarists
recorded the experience. In 1850, Indians wanted to
buy Angelina Farley's' child for ponies. "* Also in 1 850
near Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Sophia Goodrich said that
a Sioux "wanted to trade a horse for a white woman.""'
On her way to Denver in 1 860, Helen Clark made three
separate entries about Indians wanting to trade for her.
West of Fort Kearny she wrote.

This morning we go 3 miles from camp and meet
Indians moving — come to the wagon and wanted to
have a pony for ME, and Mother guessed as I was the
only papoose she had she couldn't spare me. He also
wanted to give a pony for Mrs. Wimple & Mr. W.
Thought as she was the only one, he could not spare
her conveniently today."

Helen was twenty years old and single; Mrs. Wimple
was near her age. Later, in the Cheyenne region, Helen
said, "We saw some Indians that offered 5, 6 and 10
ponies for me and Mrs. Wimple. One wanted to sell
his pony & get her and whisky."'- Helen's final expe-
rience included joking.

Three Indians passed us today horseback and they
stopped as they passed Mr. Kline, Mrs. Wimple and
me, and Mr. Kline wanted to know what they would
give for ME, and one, the chief, held up all his fingers
and Mr. Kline asked him if he had three ponies, he
gave assent and made room on behind for me when
Mr. K. backed out.'''

In an 1861 diary F. W. Blake wrote that two Sioux
Indians "met our Train yesterday. They were mounted
on ponies. One of them enraptured I suppose with the
sight of the girls offered to barter his poney away for
one of them, he wanted one with dark hair poor chap
he was doomed to disappointment - he might have
struck a bargain with some poor henpecked fellow."'''

From these contemporary trail accounts, it appears
that the "Goldilocks on the Oregon Trail" motif was
based on fact, at least in origin. English folklorist
George Gomme claimed that folk customs or beliefs
had their roots in real historical events.'-'' What pro-
duced the "Goldilocks" roots? Several historians pro-
vide possible insight. James Axtell noted that during
the colonial period Native Americans sometimes cap-

tured and adopted white women and children to replace
family members who died. Most of the young captives
were carefiilly chosen to maximize their adjustment into
Indian society. '* According to Peter Stern, Native
American raiders of the Southwest wanted women and
children captives, partly to replenish tribal numbers after
losing them to war and disease. They knew that chil-
dren under twelve assimilated more easily into a new
culture.'^ John Moore wrote that Cheyennes captured
and traded women and children; they also intermarried
to improve trade relations and strengthen military alli-
ances. By 1 880, adoption and remarriage had formed
the bulk of the Cheyenne nation. ' ^ Royal Hassrick stated
that the polygamous Sioux stole wives and adopted
children. If a family member died, parents sometimes
asked to adopt someone else's youngster as a replace-
ment. The adoption was formalized by feasting, per-
forming a giveaway ceremony, and presenting a horse
to the birth parents.'^ These statements show that some
Native American tribes were accustomed to assimilat-
ing women and children from other tribes and cultures
into their own. As a result, "Goldilocks" incidents could
have occurred on the emigrant trail.

In his essay titled "Folklore and Reality in the Ameri-
can West," Barre Toelken stated that "Goldilocks" is a
widespread legend in the Pacific Northwest and to an

* John D. Unruh, Jr., The Plains Across: The Overland Emi-
grants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-1860. (Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1979), 166-167.

"^Mattes, 251.

'" Sophia Lois Goodridge, "The Mormon Trail, 1850," in
Holmes, 2 (1990), 223.

" John R. Evans, ed., Tuo Diaries: The Diary and Journal of
Calvin Perry Clark. Together with the Diaiy of His Sister Helen
E. Clark (Denver: The Denver Public Library. 1962). 26. All
quotes have been copied as they were originally written, includ-
ing any grammatical and mechanical errors.

'- Evans, Two Diaries, 38.

'^ Evans, Two Diaries, 39.

'■♦F.W. Blake, "Diary, 1861," April to December, 1 vol., manu-
script, L.D.S. Church Library/Archives August 10.

'5 William Lynwood Montell, The Saga ofCoe Ridge: A Study
in Oral Histoiy (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1 970),
xvi.

"■James Axtell, The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures
in Colonial North America (New York: Oxford University Press,
1985), 304, 306, 315.

'^ Peter Stern, "The White Indians of the Borderlands," Jour-
nal of the Southwest 33 ( 1991 ): 266, 269, 270, 281 .

'^ John H. Moore, The Cheyenne Nation: A Social and Demo-
graphic Histoiy (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987),
186, 189, 262-263, 297, 318-319.

" Royal B. Hassrick, The Sioux: Life and Customs of a War-
rior Society (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964), 43,
47, 110-111, 297.

Spring 1998

o««BtSi,( .if^i .,--«.■; x,j((|«»»^,-5S<5l?fK.

extent throughout the West. In fact, families of pioneer
descent have often shared tales about Grandma almost
being sold to the Indians. Toelken identitled these
retellings as "culturally created truth."" Legends like
these help socialize people and place them in a cultural
value system. Toelken wondered if the reality of
"Goldilocks"" was common or if it only happened to a
few families on the trail. Like Francis Haines, Toelken
questioned the practice since family diaries did not
confmn familx legends.-" Since only sixteen of 453
childhood reminiscences mentioned "Goldilocks"" ex-
periences, the actual practice probably occurred less
frequently than family legends suggest. Also, accord-
ing to the L.D.S. Church Historical Department pio-
neer database search, only one diary and seventeen remi-
niscences of more than 2,000 tlrst-person accounts de-
scribed such an incident.- ' The "Goldilocks"" story may
be more prevalent in second-hand retellings and fam-
ily legends than in first-person documents.

The credibility of this motif in reminiscences is af-
fected by who participated as "Goldilocks"": the writer
of the reminiscence, someone else in the train, a per-
son days ahead on the trail, or a pioneer who did not
record the incident but a descendant who did. More-
over, credibility decreases as time and distance between
the writer and the event increase.-- Memories change

as indi\ iduals recall the past, for a recollection is a re-
construction, not a reproduction, of reality. Since a
person is influenced by life's experiences, the circum-
stances under which something is remembered, as well
as audience and purpose, influence what will be re-
called and recorded.-"' Most of the 430 childhood remi-
niscences were written fifty to eighty years after the
trek; as a result, time alienated the participants from
the actual event. Some writers filled in or discarded
memories; others infused them with adult vision, nos-

-" Barre Toelken, "Folklore and Realit\ in the .American West,"
in Sense of Place: American Regmiial Cidfures. Barbara .'Mien
and Thomas J. Schlereth. eds.. (Le.xington: L'niversitv of Ken-
tucky Press, IQW). 18-21.

-' Melvin L. Bashore and Linda L. Haslam, "Mormon Pioneer
Companies Crossing the Plains ( 1847-1868) Narratives: Guide to
Sources in Utah Libraries and Archives," folio text-searching
database. Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City. Utah, 19Q7 (hereafter cited as
L.D.S. Church Library/Archives).

-- Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff, The Modem Researcher
5th ed. (Fort Worth: Harcoiirl Brace Jovanovich College Publish-
ers, 1992), 158.

--' Steven Rose, "Two Types of Truth: When Is a Memory Real.
When Is It Not, and How Can Anyone Tell?" New York Times
Book Review, 26 February 1995, 26; Steven Rose, The Making of
Memory: From Molecules to Mind(Ue\\ York: Doubleday, 1992),

Annals ot Wyommg:Tke Wyoming History Jc

talgia, or information obtained from research, of the
fifteen reminiscences that mentioned a "Goldilocks"
incident, almost all of the pioneer writers were between
63 and 81 years old — the oldest was 87. Yet most of
the emigrants were between ten and fifteen when they
crossed the plains — the youngest was six years old.

^^ ince the past is a comfortable place to visit,

1^^ particularly with family members, one
individuafs recollection may become a shared memory.
Pioneer families often gathered together and spun tales
of long ago. Sometimes they relied on each other for
confinnation of what they remembered. "We need other
people's memories both to confirm our own and to give
them endurance," said David Lowenthal. Because remi-
niscences are usually shared orally before being re-
corded, they may merge into collective memory. Ac-
cording to Lowenthal, collective memory results when
individuals 'revise personal components to fit the col-
lectively remembered past."-'* Francis Haines noted that
Oregon settlers repeated trail experiences through an-
nual meetings and publications of pioneer societies,
newspaper accounts, and interviews.--'' Emigrants on
other trails did the same. Gatherings of the Daughter
of Utah Pioneers and Society of California Pioneers
kept their own stories alive. -^ Sometimes pioneers
embellished or added to their experiences as the years
passed.

Harriet Sanders, for example, kept a diary during the
trek and decades later composed a memoir with topics
and details not found in her original writings.-^

From the fifteen reminiscences of 430 young people
who traveled the Platte River route, seven "Goldilocks"
stories occurred on the way to Oregon, five on the road
to Utah, and three on the California Trail. Although
there were twice as many Mormon accounts in the to-
tal documents, a greater percentage of Oregon Trail
travelers mentioned "Goldilocks" incidents Perhaps this
corroborates with Haines' assessment of large num-
bers of Oregonians discussing them. Ten of the fifteen
experiences took place before or in Wyoming. Three
of these accounts referred directly to the Sioux tribe,
and one identified the Cheyennes. This agrees with what
the historians said about these tribes wanting to cap-
ture or trade for women and children.

The more realistic and unembellished "Goldilocks"
reminiscences were the unpublished ones. Of course,
writers may have invented or embroidered some of the
stories, especially if they reported second-hand infor-
mation. Eight of the fifteen childhood accounts de-
scribed the experience happening to someone besides

the writer. Harrison Sperry only touched upon the topic
when he said, "One day while we were traveling along,
there was a large bank of Indians came to our camp
and wanted to buy a white squaw.

They also wanted whiskey and sugar, but we had no
white squaw or whiskey for sale."-^ Mosiah Hancock
wrote.

When we got within about two days travel of Laramie,
we just about got into some trouble with a large com-
pany of Sioux Indians. John Alger started in fun to
trade a 16-year-old girl to a young Chief for a horse.
But the Chief was in earnest! We got the thing settled,
however, and were permitted to go without the loss of
Lovina.-'

According to the diary of John D. Lee who traveled
in Hancock's train, John Alger was a real person who
emigrated with their company. Lee mentioned Alger's
name but did not describe the experience Hancock re-
lated. In a diary entry at Ancient Bluff Ruins, Lee noted
a band of Sioux camped near them He wrote that

visits were made by this band of Sioux. They had a
large American Flag which they hoisted. Returned by
a Flag of Truce from the cos. who gave them Some
little presants & some thing to Eat. They seemed per-
fectly Friendly & Harmless, wanted to trade for Some
thing to eat. After smoking the Pipe by thier request a
Letter of commendation was given them.^o

Why did Lee ignore the "Goldilocks" incident in his
diary? Was he doing something else when Hancock
witnessed the scene, or did Hancock create the tale years
later? If John Alger, the story's antagonist, recorded
the experience as well, its credibility would be more
reliable. Even so, Mosiah Hancock did not fictionalize
his retelling by adding flowery or unrealistic details to
it.

-■* David Lowenthal, The Past Is a Foreign Country (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1985), 196.

-5 Haines, "Goldilocks," 27.

-* See Palmer, "Voices," 32.

-^ Clyde A. Milner 11, "The Shared Memory of Montana Pio-
neers," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 37 (Winter
1987): 2-4.

^* Harrison Sperry, Sr., "A Short History of the Life of Harrison
Sperry Sr.," MS 722, L.D.S. Church Library/Archives, 4

-' Mosiah Lyman Hancock, "The Life Story of Mosiah Lyman
Hancock," Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah, 26 (hereafter cited as BYU Special Collections).

'" Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, ed., A Mormon
Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee. 1848-1876 2 vols. (San
Marino, CA: The Huntington Library, 1955)1; 55-56.

gpring 1998

Several other young pioneers also recalled
unembellished "Goldilocks" experiences about some-
one else in their train. In a published interview, Mrs.
M. A. Gentry remembered hearing "many strange sto-
ries of queer bargains made by the travelers with the
redmen." But because of what happened to her young
married sister, she was willing to give credence to them.
Mrs. Gentry wrote.

One day a chief came to our camp with five ponies,
which he offered in exchange for my sister. Naturally,
she was much frightened, and climbed into the wagon
in haste and buttoned down the canvas flaps as tightly
as she could. I was asleep at the time, and have no
personal knowledge of the episode, and do not know
how the men managed to decline the proposal without
giving offense to the old chief -^'

Mrs. Gentr\ was honest enough to tell the interviewer
she did not know what actually happened when she
could have embellished the story with shared or col-
lective memory. Surely Mrs. Gentry's sister repeated
the tale to family and other pioneers.

Olive McMillan Huntington's experience may have
come from shared memory since she did not say what
she actually remembered as an eight-year-old pioneer.
Her mother most likely enjoyed telling it. When the
family crossed the Missouri River, they fell behind the
other wagons. That evening they set up camp, and two
Indians paid them a visit. One of the men held Olive's
one-year-old sister, and the child played with his beads.
This pleased him so much that he asked to buy her.
Mother shook her head but when her attention w as taken
from him he put sister up behind him and began back-
ing away from the camp. He was within a few feet of
some when mother saw him and calling to the other
members of the party. He dropped sister and ran into
the woods. '-

Annie Taylor Dee recalled as an eight-year-old on
her way to Utah that
two big Indian chiefs ... wanted to trade two ponies for
my cousin, Annie Maddock. She was a nice looking
girl about seventeen years old. Of course father said,
"No," and she hid in the wagon and we traveled on.
The Indians did not make any trouble for us, however,
as we feared they might. That was one ride that Annie
got, and maybe the only one, as we were all supposed
to walk.-'^

These "Goldilocks" stories involving other individu-
als seem realistic based on the fact that the pioneers
did not make a spectacle of their recollections. Instead

35_

of exaggerating and fictionalizing, they stated what
happened and moved on with their memories. Annie
Taylor Dee's comment about Indians not causing
trouble "as we feared they might" may have provided
impetus for pioneers to magnify these situations as years
went by and tales were told and retold.

While nine of the fifteen pioneers reminisced
about "Goldilocks" occurring to someone else,
six said it happened directly to them. Because these
stories were not second-hand tellings, their credibility
increases, of course, they would be more believable if
the young pioneers had written diary entries the day
the incidents took place. In one of the six reminiscences,
however. Belle Redman Somers was only six years old.
and she did not record what she remembered person-
ally. Most likely her mother kept the stor\ ali\e, for
Belle related the tale from her mother's point of view.
Two Sioux Indians begged Belle's mother to swap the
child for a pony.

My mother was thoroughly frightened and held me
closely to her side. The two Indians then retired to the
rear end of the Train, and while one sat on his horse
and waited, the other Indian moved forward rapidly to
our wagon and reaching forward made a quick ino\ e-
ment to grab me.

Mother's frightened screams gave the alarm, while
at the same time the Indian rapidly Joined his compan-
ion, swung on his pony and dashed aw ay at top speed.
The men of the Train followed in hot pursuit but failed
to capture the Indian.'**

Belle's trail experience was published in a Califor-
nia newspaper when she was eighty-two years old. The
"Goldilocks" memory belonged to her mother.

Martha Gay Masterson recalled at age thirteen al-
most being sold to Indians. Her father jokingly asked
some men who came to their camp to sell ponies "how
many ponies they would give for Mamie or I." They
offered "a number of their best," but Martha's father
explained he was only teasing. The Indians "got angry
and we got alarmed and ran and hid in the wagons.
Father could not make them understand it was a joke.

" Jennie E. Ross, "A Child's Experiences in "4')." Overland
Monthly 63 (1914); 302.

-"Olive McMillan Huntington, "Tells of E.xperiences Crossing
the Plains," Cowlitz Count}- HistoncLiI Quarterly 12 (February
1071): 1.

'^ .Annie Taylor Dee. "Memories ofa Pioneer" (N.p., n.d.). 13.

"'■' Belle Redman Somers, "Crossing the Plains in a Covered
Wagon in 1849," The Argonaut (August 20, 1025): 3.

Annals of Wyoming:Tlie Wyoming History Journal

He fed them and tried to talk them into a better humor.
He never asked another Indian how many ponies he
would give for one of us."^-"" Martha's father probably
helped supply the details as well as perpetuate the tale
through the years. Elisha Brooks crossed the plains at
the age of eleven. At eighty-one he recalled that Native
Americans "were anxious to buy white children, offer-
ing a pony for a boy and two for a girl; but no mother
wished to sell her children at that price, though our
teamster tried to dispose of me in this way, claiming
that was more than I was worth."'*' His was the only
account that mentioned a boy being offered to the Indi-
ans.

In an unpublished interview, Margaret West Irvin re-
called that Indians sometimes visited their camp. The
eleven-year-old girl was frightened "because the Indi-
ans were craz\ over my red hair and several times of-
fered to trade a pony for me. When I would see them
coming, my mother would hide me in the back of the
wagon and throw a shawl over my head."^ '' These young
people did not embellish the "Goldilocks" experience;
instead, it became one of many trail incidents.

In 1 856, eleven-year-old Ellen Perks Johnstun emi-
grated from England, then walked to Utah alone in a
Mormon handcart company. A Scottish teamster in her
party had nothing to trade for a pair of moccasins and,
being bothered by Indians, he "thought to get rid of
them by saying he would trade me for them. The Indi-
ans w ere very pleased and would not change the trade.
These Indians followed us for three days and I had to
be hidden to keep them from stealing me."-'^ One won-
ders where Ellen was concealed since the group pulled
handcarts, and only a few supply wagons traveled with
them. Because her family was not with her on the trek,
Ellen could not build shared memory with them. Yet
when she recorded the incident, she did not embellish
it.

In contrast to the succinct descriptions just men-
tioned, Susan Johnson Martineau wrote both pub-
lished and unpublished accounts of almost becoming
an Indian bride at the age of fourteen. In the published
version she added dialogue, embellishment, flowery
description, and several days to her tale. In the unpub-
lished memoir Susan said.

One night we camped near a band of Cheyennes. The
follow ing day, being rainy, we remained in camp. The
Indians, old and young, came into camp trading moc-
casins and robes. Among the rest was a fine looking
young Indian who wanted to buy a squaw, offering some

fine ponies, Andy Kelley asked him who he wanted,
and I was pointed out as his choice on account of my
dark eyes and rosy cheeks. Kelly finally made a trade
for five ponies, a buffalo robe, and the silver ornaments
on his hair. In the evening he came with his ponies.
Kelley told him it was all a joke — that the girl belonged
to another family. This made the Indian mad; he said a
trade was a trade. Then Captain Markham came and
explained to the Indian that Kelley was no good and
had no right to do as he had done. The Indian finally
went away very indignant.

By piecing Susan's two stories together, we learn
that Kelly was a soldier who had deserted from Fort
Kearny and joined the Mormon train. He soon revealed
his true character by stealing some of the emigrants'
clothes and later worked on Salt Lake City streets with
a ball and chain attached to his leg. Susan continued
her "Goldilocks" tale in the unpublished version with:

That night there was a high wind which blew down
Aunt Sarah's tent. The tent was placed facing our
wagon with the back toward a deep ravine full of wil-
lows. .Aunt Sarah was holding the front tent pole and I
the back while two men were driving stakes at the side.
The night was pitch black, lighted at intervals by flashes
of lightening. Suddenly I felt strong arms lift me to the
back of a pony. I gave a terrified scream. At that in-
stant a tJash of lightening revealed tile situation to the
men who came to the rescue. I slid off the horse's back
which the Indian mounted and escaped. He had been
hiding in the ravine waiting his chance for revenge,
and but for the flash of lightening I would have been
carried off An extra guard was placed for the night,
but when morning came everything that was loose, such
as frying pans, skillets, and other cooking utensils which
had been put under the wagons, had disappeared, leav-
ing the company short of these articles. The band of
Cheyennes disappeared and were seen no more by the
company.

According to Susan's published story in the Mor-
mon Young Woman 's Journal, the Cheyenne was ap-
proximately twenty years old. The deserting soldier told
the Indian who frequented their camp, "You may have
her for five horses, five buffalo robes, and some dried

'■^ Lois Barton, ed.. One Woman 's West {Eugene, Oregon; Spen-
cer Butte Press, 1986), 37.

'* Elisha Brooks, A Pioneer Mother of California (San Fran-
cisco: Harr Wagner Publishing, 1922), 22.

-" Abbott Adams, "Covered Wagon Days As Related by Mar-
garet Elizabeth Irvin," 21. MSS 1508, Oregon Historical Society,
Portland.

Spring 1998

meat, and two antelope skins." The amount bartered,
however, was slightly different in the two accounts.
After the Cheyenne agreed to the sale, he informed them
he would come "one sleep" and bring the pay. Many
were the mock congratulations showered upon the
bride-to-be and requests for invitations to the wedding,

much to the annoyance of the prospective The

next morning affairs assumed a serious aspect. The
Cheyenne appeared early in the morning with the
horses... and demanded his bride.

When he was told it was only a joke, the Indian was
more determined to obtain his bride. He had brought
his goods "'and would ha\ e her, or the company would
be sorry." After being "absolutely denied," he "went
away in furious rage, with dire threats of revenge." The
train members feared attack, and they kept their guns
ready to tight. A few days later "a terrible tempest of
rain, hurricane, thunder and lightning came upon us."
The darkness was "like that of Egypt," except for in-
termittent flashes of light. The Indian attempted to steal
his bride but was "foiled of his prey," and he ""dashed
down among the willows and was gone in an instant."
In this published account Susan added phrases which
built suspense and moved the plot along, but she ig-
nored details such as having pans and cooking utensils
disappear from camp. Her purpose and audience in the
journal article were to promote faith among young
Mormon women. She acknowledged that the Lord
saved her ""by a single flash of light," and she added,
"'How wonderful are the ways of the Lord!"*'

These two accounts of the same event show that
memories can change depending upon audience, pur-
pose, and the circumstances under which they are re-
membered. Two other young people in Susan's com-
pany briefly recalled the journey, but neither mentioned
associations with Native Americans. Only Thomas
Forsyth wrote, ""We passed lots of Indians on our w ay
But The\ never gave us any trouble." Cholera \\ as the
main topic of discussion in both documents.'*'

Of the fifteen childhood ""Goldilocks" reminis-
cences, nine were published during the
pioneer's lifetime. Five writers, including Susan
Martineau, exaggerated their tale. In a published inter-
view Catherine Thomas Morris at the age of eighty-
seven had created quite a yam to tell. Her father was
captain over 1 00 wagons, many children including ten-
year-old Catherine, and twenty-five young men who
drove the teams. Before the company parted for Cali-
fornia and Oregon, a ""young chap, along about 20 or
thereabouts," named Steve Devenish traveled with

them. He was jolly, likable, and ""a great hand at jok-
ing." Naturally, all the young ladies liked him.
Catherine recalled that

some Indians came to our wagon train and, like most
Indians, they were very anxious to get hold of some of
the white girls for ui\es. When Steve found what the
chief wanted he pointed to one of the prettiest girls in
the bunch and asked the chief what he would pay for
her. The chief otTcred ten horses. Steve and the chief
bargained back and forth and finally the chief raised
his bid to 2(1 horses. Ste\e said, "Sold. She's yours."

Of course, the young men and women considered
this great fun until the chief returned the next day with
the horses and demanded the girl.

Steve explained that he was joking, that while people
didn't sell their women for horses, that a wiute man
didn't have to pay anything for a wife and sometimes
she was dear at that price. The Indian couldn't see the
joke. He became angry and demanded that Ste\ e carry
out his bargain. Finallv the girl's father and my father,
the captain of the train, sent the Indian about his busi-
ness and we went on. "*-

This was not the end of the storv , however. Catherine
continued, ""That night the Indians swooped down on
us and stampeded our stock." While the men were
searching for the animals, the Indians "met thein with
a volley of arrows" and badly injured one of them.
Unable to recover the stock, the company was tbrced
to abandon half of its wagons. ""Mother had to leave all
of her treasured possessions" except one keepsake, a
tlatiron which she had received as a wedding gift. The
men bumed the fifty wagons so the Indians could not
take them.

Meanwhile, the girl's father was going to kill
Devenish. Because of the practical joke, the father had
lost animals, a wagon, and most of the family's heir-
looins. Instead, the men in the company decided to
banish Devenish from the train, and the girls cried be-
cause they liked him. Now with fewer wagons, every

'* Roberta F. Clayton collection, "Biographies of 1Q5 Pioneer
Arizona Women," MSS 715, box 2: 4, BYU Special Collections.

''' Susan Ellen Johnson, "Record of Susan Ellen Johnson," cop-
ied by BYU Library, lQ.s6, BYU Special Collections, 7-8.

""' Susan E. J. Martineau, ".Almost an Indian Bride," )'miiig
Woman's Journal 18 (June 1Q07), 264-265.

■*' Thomas R. Forsyth, "Pioneer Life of T. R. Forsyth." MS
1969, L.D.S. Church Library /.Archives; "Joseph Campbell." Utah
Pioneer Biographies 44 vols. (1935-1964) 7:1, loaned b\ the Utah
State Historical Society and typed by the Genealogical Society,
Salt Lake City, Utah.

""- Mike Helm, ed.. Conversations with Pioneer Women hy Fred
Lockley (Eugene, Oregon: Rainy Day Press, 1981), 135-136.

Annals of Wyoming:Tke Wyoming History Journal

child over ten was forced to walk. Catherine remem-
bered, "I was one of the ones that had to walk.'"*^ Her
family settled in Oregon. This tale fits the exaggerated
pattern Francis Haines found common in Oregon Trail
reminiscences.
^^ o do three accounts of men who traveled to
^^ Oregon and later published their childhood
memories. Joaquin Miller prefaced his story with his
mother's preconceived notions about Indians. He said
that Native American women west of the Missouri
River

were very fond of the white children and all the time
wanted to touch and fondle them. Mother seemed afraid
they would steal her little girl. She had read a yellow
book telling all about how Indians would steal little
girls! The Indian women were all the time trying to
lay their hands on my little brother Jimmy's great shock
of frouzy yellow hair, but he would run away from
them and hide under the wagon.

After Miller's train passed Fort Hall and crossed the
desert to Oregon, "a friendly Indian chief on a "fine
spotted horse" asked Mr. Waggoner, a member of their
train, what he would give for his beautiful daughter.
"The Indian was told in jest that he would take ten
beautiful spotted horses, like the one he rode." So the
chief

dashed off and the same day overtook us with the ten
horses and a horde of warriors, and wanted the girl, of
course, everybody protested, but the chief would not
be put off The Oregonians that had been sent out to
meet us were appealed to. It was a very serious matter,
they said. The chief was an honest man and meant ex-
actly what he said, and had a right to the girl. The
majority agreed, and thought the best way out of it
was to let papa marry them. This seems strange now,
but it was the Indian custom to buy wives, and as we
were in the heart of a warlike people, we could not
safely trifle with the chief

The girl was about to throw herself in the river from
the steep bluff where we were, at which the chief, see-
ing her terror, relented, and led his warriors off, scom-
ftilly refiasing what presents were offered him for his
forbearance.'*'*

Joaquin Miller did not record what he remembered
about the encounter or even if he was present. Either
his story came from collective memory or he invented
it because it contains elements of a folktale. As an adult.
Miller became a famous poet, and Bret Harte called
him "the greatest liar the world has ever known." Miller

"wrote 90% fact and 90% fiction" and perplexed read-
ers, critics, biographers, and historians.'*^

Also emigrating to Oregon as a young boy, George
Waggoner published a small book in which he described
a "Goldilocks" tale about his sister. Along the Snake
River, his company had "a genuine scare." Indians came
to camp, "and one young warrior took a fancy to my
sister Frances, and asked father how many horses it
would take to buy her." At the time Frances was eigh-
teen years old.

Father answered, with a laugh, that she was worth ten
spotted ponies, as she was a very good cook and had
long, beautiflil hair, and moreover, already had Indian
moccasins on her feet. The young lover took the whole
thing in earnest and went away. An hour later he re-
turned with a band of spotted ponies, and, reinforced
by a dozen comrades, demanded his bride. His wrath
knew no bounds when told that father was only joking.
He was a warrior of fame with a battle name a yard
long... and would stand no such foolishness; he had
bought a wife and was going to have her, or his people
would murder us all. He gave us until sundown to de-
cide whether we were going to treat him right or not...
[DJuring the evening several hundred of the red ras-
cals came into camp, and all declared we should com-
plete the bargain and give up the girl, or we would all
be murdered.

The emigrants begged for more time, so the Indians
agreed to make the exchange the following evening.
Meanwhile, "women and children were in tears" and
"the men looked pale and anxious." As the hours passed,
other trains joined the frazzled company. Soon fifty-
six men with guns were ready to fight. The next evening
one hundred warriors in war paint approached the pio-
neers. "The young chief rode forward, and in a loud
voice, demanded his bride, on penalty of death" if the
emigrants did not meet his terms. But George
Waggoner's father was now perturbed, and his "Jack-
sonian blood flashed in his face." With fifty-five rifles
backing him, he knocked the brave to the ground "and
gave him a most unmerciful kicking and drubbing,"
yet "not an arrow flew, nor a shot was fired." The Indi-
ans went away, but the emigrants prepared themselves
for fijture attacks.'*^

^^ Helm, Conversations, 136-138.

'•'' Joaquin Miller, Overland in a Covered Wagon (New York:
D. Appleton and Company, 1930), 73, 77-78.

*^ Margaret Guilford-Kardell, "Joaquin Miller: Fact and Fic-
tion," The Californians 9 (November 1991): 26.

''* George Waggoner, Stories of Old Oregon (Salem: States-
man Publishing Co., 1905), 12-14.

Spring 1998

This recollection contains the suspense and detail of
sensational fiction. No diary identified thus far de-
scribed violence, attack, or retaliation by Native Ameri-
cans when they could not buy "Goldilocks" on the trail.
Even when overlanders joked about a trade and backed
out, diary accounts did not mention war or the threat of
it. Indians did not return with many ponies and "hordes
of warriors" to claim their prize. But Waggoner 5 remi-
niscence is only one of fifteen that included such vio-
lence.

One aspect of the "Goldilocks" recollections by
Joaquin Miller and George Waggoner needs further
research. Did the two families cross the plains in the
same company? If so, they probably described the same
event. Both pioneers journeyed to Oregon in 1 852, and
Miller said the experience happened to a "Mr.
Wagoner's" daughter. In other words, both used the
name of Waggoner but with slightly different spell-
ings. Miller wrote that "Mr. Wagoner" joked about trad-
ing his beautiful daughter to an Indian chief for "ten
spotted horses." George Waggoner noted that his fa-
ther joked to a young warrior about exchanging "ten
spotted ponies" for his daughter Frances. In both rec-
ollections the > oung Indian returned the same da_\' with
the animals and "a horde of warriors" or "a dozen com-
rades." In both stories the young Indian was disgruntled
when he could not obtain his bride. Yet while Waggoner
described physical retaliation by Native Americans,
Miller only noted that the girl considered suicide. Al-
though the Waggoner family began their trek on April
2 1 and Miller's party started on May 1 5, they may have
joined each other along the trail, then separated in Or-
egon since one crossed the Cascade Mountains and the
other traveled along the Columbia Ri\er. Perhaps
Miller, who published his trail experiences in 1930,
borrowed parts of his tale from Waggoner, who wrote
in 1905.

Fifty years after going to Oregon as a young boy,
George Himes spoke at the annual Oregon Pio-
neer Association. In his address, Himes embellished
his "Goldilocks" tale with adjectives and flowery de-
scription. He told fellow pioneers that while his com-
pany was camped near the Umatilla River,

a number of Indians rode up, all well mounted on a
number of the most beautiful ponies that I ever saw up
to that time, all dressed in gay costume with feathers
and fringes abounding. One of the Indians, the leader
of the rest, whom we afterwards found out was the
noted Walla Walla chief, Peu-Peu-Mox-Mox, came
near our camp, and seemed especially interested in my

39^

baby sister, then ten months old, who had beautiful
golden hair. 1 was taking care of the little girl at the
time and noticed that the Indian eagerly v\atched e\-
ery movement I made in trying to amuse the child.
Nothing was thought of the Indian's visit that night,
but the next morning, in some unaccountable way, hun-
dreds of Indian ponies were found grazing near the
camp.... The Indians were dri\ing the ponies toward
the camp under orders from Chief Peu-Peu-Mox-Mox
who proposed to trade them for the little red-haired
girl. This infonnation was conveyed to my mother by
Mr. Sarjent, and the offer of the great chief was re-
spectfully declined, much to his apparent sorrow, as
he rode away followed by his body guard, meanv\hile
striking his breast and... [mjeaning that his heart was
very sick.""

At least George Himes placed himself in the
"Goldilocks" scene, which is more than what Miller
and Waggoner did in their retellings. Still, this story
has the folklore quality noted by Francis Haines.

Was Francis Haines' assessment of "Goldilocks" in-
cidents correct? These experiences did crop up in remi-
niscences, and frequentU w ith the joking offer, but not
to the extent he suggested. According to the 453 child-
hood and more than 2.000 L.D.S. Church Historical
Department accounts, not as many reminiscences in-
cluded "Goldilocks" tales as Haines claimed. Because
the topic was mentioned in several diaries, scholars
cannot credit all such .stories to folklore. The motif prob-
abh had its basis in reality. The most embellished
"Goldilocks" experiences usually occurred in published
recollections recorded years later. Some reminiscences
were greatly exaggerated while others ma> have been
invented, for some pioneers became great storytellers
as the years went by. The diarists who described
"Goldilocks" incidents did not embellish them nor did
the\' elaborate on warring Indians when a trade was not
completed. Although Native Americans were usually
serious about the exchange, white people often joked
in an Anglo-Saxon way which gave reason to misun-
derstanding between the two cultures.

One fallacy with Haines' article was the wax in which
he generalized. He did not specify how many diaries
and reminiscences he studied to form his conclusions.
Moreover, he said the "Goldilocks" motif did not oc-
cur in diaries. A few accounts have been found that

■'"' George H. Himes, ".Annual .Address: .\n Account of Cross-
ing the Plains in 1853. and of the First Trip h\ Immigrants Through
the Cascade Mountains, via Natchess Pass." Transactions of the
Oregon Pioneer Association, (1907). 144-145.

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

mention it. Also, Haines stated that "Goldilocks" sto-
ries crop up again and again in reminiscences. From
the tlrst-person accounts considered here, they do not
seem as common as Haines purported.

Teasing about another culture may have contributed
to real or contrived "Goldilocks" stories. Mary Ann
Parker Wilgus remembered that her older sister
"Emaretta had red hair and blue eyes and Father used
to tease her by telling her the Indians liked red haired
girls, so she always hid when she saw Indians for fear
they would steal her."'^^

Whether "Goldilocks" stories were real, embellished,
or created, one cannot discount them all and relegate

them to the realm of folklore. Native Americans have
their own colorful versions of "Goldilocks" stories —
and they may not all be folklore either.

■"* Mary Ann Parker Wilgus "Mary Ann Parker, Reynolds, Van
Norman, Wilgus," Sutter Yuba Diggers Digest 5, (July-Decem-
ber 1978): 1 12. Only thirty to forty years ago on a reservation in
Eastern Utah, white adults told their children. "If you don't be-
have, ril give you to the Indians." But turn-about is fair as well.
One day a white woman was in a J.C. Penney's store in Roosevelt,
and she overheard a mother from the Ute tribe say to her misbe-
having child, "Suh, I give you to a white lady." Karen S. Heaton,
interview with author. Rock Springs, Wyoming, 10 February 1998.

Rosemary G. Palmer was granted her doctorate
from the University of Wyoming in 1997. A long-
time resident of Rock Springs, she currently is a
member of the faculty, Boise State University,
Boise. Idaho. Her doctoral dissertation, from
which this article is derived, "Voices from the
Trail: Young Pioneers on the Platte River Road
Between 1841 and 1869, " was an examination of
children 's lives and memories of Oregon Trail
travel.

Book R

e Views

Edited In' Carl Halllierg

Lakota Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's
Defeat, by Gregory F. Michno. Missoula: Mountain
Press Publishing Company, 1997. xvi + 336 pages.
Illustrations, maps, notes, hihliography. index.
Cloth. $36.00: paper. SIS.OO.

It is hard to convey in a simple review just how good
this book is, but it may be the best book every written
about the famous battle of the Little Bighorn. In Lakota
Noon. Gregory F. Michno has gathered together
approximately sixty Indian narratives and produced a
highl} detailed reconstruction of the lighting which
allows indi\ idual warriors to tell their stories through a
chronological timeline often-minute intervals. So far
as I know, this is the First time that any scholar has
attempted such a compilation. Michno's results are
astounding and will cause historians to reconsider some
long held conclusions about the battle.

Every western historian with even a passing interest
in Custer and the Little Bighorn has known about the
Indian accounts. But these Indian histories posed
almost insurmountable difFiculties - the narratives are
episodic and impossible to insert with accuracy into
time and place. Michno notes that Native Americans
tended to be excellent observers of what they
personally saw and did, but they failed to provide
transcribers and inter\iewers with continuity and
context. Thus, when used by earlier scholars, Indian
testimony often consisted of little more than literary
seasoning sprinkled into standard military accounts.
The latter were viewed as more reliable, in part due to
the structural shaping of soldier stories. Of course, the
limitations of the military viewpoint are obvious. For
the critical last phase of the battle, first-hand military
accounts are non-existent; while for the earlier action,
soldier narratives may be tainted by self-interest,
factual error, or mental trauma.

There are so man> revelations in Lakota Noon that 1
will mention just a few of Michno's most significant
contributions. The book begins with an assessment of
the number of Indians in the valley. With rather
convincing evidence, the author concludes that Custer
faced far fewer warriors than is usually reckoned. Next,

Michno's description of the early phase of the battle
show s that Reno's attack against the southern end of the
Indian village was initially effective as it provoked
considerable surprise and alarm.

The author throws aside the old tales that the Indians
were aware of the coming attack. Many accounts
commence with Indian warriors at rest, and when work
of the attack spread throughout the village, the Indian
response was slow. The collected stories also reveal
remarkable insights into the Native American attitude
toward warfare. When Reno struck, for example, a
Lakota warrior did not just grab a weapon and ride into
battle. There were personal preparations to be made -
warpaint and other decorative items of personal power
needed to be applied, a horse rounded up, and a
decision made on whether to head directly to the
fighting or tlrst secure the safety of one's relatives.

Michno's Indian narratives leave readers with the
feeling that Reno's effort might have proved successful
if either the attack had been pressed more \ igorousl\ , or
if Reno had possessed additional troops. At any rate, it
was a close thing from the Indian perspecti\ e. Several
miles to the north, Custer failed to realize that Reno was
in retreat.

How long did the battle last'l* Michno's timeline
indicates that battle lasted from around 3:00 p.m. when
Reno rode toward the Hunkpapa encampment until
approximately 6:00 p.m. when the last of the "Last
Stand" survivor's fell. Three hours would be a longer
period than some earlier writers have estimated, but the
timeline seems believable and well reasoned.
Sequencing the battle at twenty-two inter\als is the
book's most important contribution.

Did Custer die or suffer a severe wold in an attempt to
cross the river's ford long before the Last Stand?
Michno's detailed negation of this theory shows his
impressive critical reasoning at work and makes for a
fine historiographical study in itself

Michno urges caution about citing the value of
archaeological evidence recently unearthed . Fie notes
that the site of the Last Stand was combed repeatedly by
souvenir hunters over the many decades since 1876,
thus destroying munch of the original artifact record
and matrix. Second, Indian accounts state that warriors

Annals or Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

frequently picked up soldiers' weapons and com-
menced to tire at retreating cavalrymen. Thus, some
misinterpretations may arise in definitely determining
whether artifacts indicate an Indian or cavalry position,
or possibly both.

Lakota Noon is a wonderful book with surprises on
almost every page. Everyone interested in Western
American history needs to read this book. Those who
specialize in military or Native American history will
want this work for their personal library.

"These conclusions were not manufactured because
there was any particular ax to grind," writes Michno. "1
did not particularly care which coulee Crazy Horse
rode in, but I definitely wanted to know which one he
chose. The underlying deriving force behind this study
was incontrovertibly to find out what happened at the
battle by using the testimony of the only ones who
could tell it"( lp/296). With the publication of Latoto
Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat, the
victors, for the first time, tell a better and more accurate
history than the losers.

Gerald Thompson
University of Toledo

Frontier and Region: Essays in Honor of Martin
Ridge. Edited by Robert C. Ritchie and Paul Andrew
Hutton. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press, 1997. .y\'/ + 263 pages. Illustrations, notes,
index. Cloth, $29.95.

Martin Ridge is a founder of the Western History
Association, biographer of Ignatius Donnelly, journal
editor, educator, and defender of Frederick Jackson
Turner's Frontier Thesis. Upon his retirement from the
Huntington Library in 1992, some of his colleagues
gave him a party at which a few read papers that
explored familiar topics and questions about the West -
where it is, what it is, what it is not, what we think it is,
and some of those responsible for why we think of it as
we do - and showed in the process that it is possible for
western historians to practice their profession without
excessively grinding axes on the bones of long-dead
white guys. Their addresses are reproduced in this
volume under the broad headings of geography,
politics, culture, and historiography.

Editor Paul Andrew Hutton captures his readers early
with a concise description of the twelve essays that
tempts one to skip them altogether. But that would be a
mistake.

One would miss midwestemer James Madison's
pithy explanation of why the Midwest is not the West;

Donald Pisani's discussion of the region's mythic
independence from federal power, citing the
government's behavior, colonialism, and the West's
own obsession for its share of the pork; James Ronda's
discussion of Thomas Jefferson's fascination with
rivers as routes for national expansion and as method to
connect the east and west; and Melody Webb's essay
on Lyndon Johnson's commitment to conservation and
national parks, reminding readers that there was more
to LBJ than the undeclared war that toppled his
presidency.

Walter Nugent explores the West and notes that
people who come out here find pretty much what they
are looking for. Of particular interest to residents of the
Equality State will be the discussion on cross country
motoring, 1903-1930, which mentions Rock Springs,
where a tourist "slept in bed that lived up to the town's
name;" Rawlins, twice; Casper; and Yellowstone.

Charles Rankin introduces Union Army veteran,
frontier journalist and vagabond Frederic E. Lockley,
who commented on a variety of contemporary issues
including Mormons, Indians, railroads, western
agriculture, and monetary policy.

Richard Lowitt tells of the Senate debate on the
creation of an artificial lake in Yosemite's Hetch
Hetchy Valley that pitted the interests of national
preservadonists against California's monied elites.

Cultural historians will enjoy the offerings of
Richard White on Turner and Buffalo Bill in Chicago in
1893; Glenda Riley on the creation of cowgirl Annie
Oakley; and Hutton's charmingly illustrated and not-
to-be-missed essay on Davy Crocket, whose almanacs
were published years after his 1836 death under the
guise that he had prepared them well in advance of his
departure to Texas.

Under the category historiography, Albert Hurtado
offers an ironic, but short discussion about the time
Hubert Bolton did not do his homework and
authenticated a forged brass plate, attributing it to Sir
Francis Drake's 1579 trip to California.. Howard
Lamar discusses four literary Tumerians - Constance
Rourke, Stephen Vincent Benet, Archibald MacLeish,
and Bernard DeVoto who, Lamar points out, "were all
overwhelmed by a sense of both the sweep and
importance of American history" (p. 235).

As all of the essays come with traditional scholarly
apparatus, the notes offer suggestions for further
readings on topics or individuals of interest.

Peg Tremper
University of Wyoming

Spring 1Q98

Religion in Modern New Mexico. Edited by Ferenc
M. Szasz and Richard W. Etulain. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1997. Notes.
bibliography, index, x + 221 pages. Cloth. $60.00.
paper. SI 9.95.

Ferenc Szasz has repeatedly argued that religion
remains an overlooked themes in western history.
Religion in Modern New Mexico is another attempt by
him, with the aid of Etulain, to correct this oversight for
New Mexico. This book consists of nine essays which
were delivered at a 1 993 Religious Cultures in Modem
New Mexico Conference at the University of New
Mexico. An eclectic mix of authors - doctoral students,
historians, American studies scholars, and a communi-
cations professor - write about Roman Catholicism.
Protestantism, Jew s. Native Americans, Mormons, and
Asian religions. In putting these writings into print
coupled with a lengthy annotated bibliography of
supplementary religious articles and books, the editors
have set out to kindle an interest in religion in western
history.

Essays on modem Roman Catholicism survival by
Carol Jensen, Native American religious freedom by
Kathleen Chamberlain, Protestant evangelical rhetoric
by Janice Schuetz, and comparative US-New Mexico
religious history by Ferenc Szasz are well researched,
coherent, and, most importantly, focused around an
issue within twentieth centurv New Mexico.

The remaining essays are survey articles - Randi
Walker on Protestantism, Henry Tobias on Jews,
Leonard Arrington on Mormons, and Stephen Fox on
Asian Religions. Their objective is to give readers an
introduction into the topic and to serve as a catalyst for
further reading or research. But compared to the other
essays, they do not fare as well. Randi Walker's topic
is too broad to be adequately covered in an essay.
Leonard Arrington's examination of Mormons is as
celebratory as it is analytical. He and Walker forget to
take into account other issues, such as the lives of
wayward members and of fields tried and abandoned.
Readers ought to read Henry Tobias" book after reading
his essay. Another particularly troubling feature is
context. The editors" intent was to focus on religion in
twentieth century New Mexico. UnfortunateK some
authors overlooked this limitation and plunge readers
through pages of nineteenth century religious historv as
a prelude to understanding twentieth centur\ religion.
In some cases, the purpose was not always a balanced
or necessary one. Lastly, many authors could have
profited from the use of tables or maps to illustrate the
distribution of churches and religious organizations.

Overall, Religion in New .Mexico an interesting,
informative book and shows that religion in the
American West is not a static cultural theme. It should
be a guide for other states and should stimulate other
avenues of research both in New Mexico and western
history.

Carl Hallberg
Wvomins State Archi\ es

Annals ot Wyoming: Tke Wyoming History Journal

Recent Acquisitions in the
Hebard Collection, UW Libraries

Compiled by Tamsen L. Hert, University of Wyoming Libraries

The Grace Raymond Hebard Wyoming
Collection is a branch of the University of
Wyoming Libraries housed in the Owen Wister
Western Writers Reading Room in the American
Heritage Center. Primarily a research collection,
the core of this collection is Miss Hebard's
personal library which was donated to the
university libraries. Further donations have been
significant in the development of this collection.
While it is easy to identify materials about
Wyoming published by nationally known
publishers, it can be difficult to locate pertinent
publications printed in Wyoming. The Hebard
Collection is considered to be the most
comprehensive collection on Wyoming in the state.

If you have any questions about these
materials or the Hebard Collection, you can
contact me by phone at 307-766-6245; by email,
thert@uwyo.edu or you can access the Hebard
HomePage at: http://www.uwyo.edu/lib/heb.htm.

Blood, Dwight M. Echoes of My Wyoming Boyhood.
Orem, UT: the Author, 1996.
Hebard & Coe CT 274 .B58 B66 1996

DeArment, Robert K. Alias Frank Canton. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Hebard & Coe F 699 .C36 D43 1996

Dodge, Richard Irving. The Powder River Expedition
Journals of Colonel Richard Irving Dodge. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
Hebard & Coe E 83.876 .D64 A3 1997

Drago, Gail. Etta Place: Her Life and Times with
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Piano, TX:
Republic of Texas Press, 1996.
Hebard & Coe F 595 .P65 D73 1996

Dunbar, David. Yellowstone National Park I National
Parks & Conservation Association. New York:
Abbeville Press, 1995.
Hebard & SciRef F 722 .D9 1995

New Publications

Anderson, Nancy F. Lora Webb Nichols:
Homesteader's Daughter, Miner's Bride.

ID: Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1995.
Hebard & Coe CT 275 .N62 A53 1995

Caldwell,

Badger, Bryant D. A History of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) in Colorado and the Central Rocky
Mountain Region, 1873-1997. Casper, WY: Endeavor
Books, 1997.
Hebard & Coe BX 7317 .C6 B345 1997

Badger, Bryant D. History of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) in Wyoming, 1886-1990. Casper,
WY: Bryant D. Badger, 1996.
Hebard & Coe BX 7317 .W8 B34 1996

Batten, Charles R. Beware! The Legislature is in
Session: the Life and Times of Charles R. Batten.
Logan, UT: C.R. Batten, 1997.
Hebard & Science SD 129 .B388 B493 1997

Farley, Ronnie. Cowgirls: Contemporary Portraits of
the American West. New York: Crown Trade
Paperbacks, 1995.
Hebard & Coe F 596 .F22 1995

Final Environmental Impact Statement, Cave Gulch-
Bullfrog-Waltman Natural Gas Development Project,
Natrona County, Wyoming. Cheyenne: U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, Wyoming State Office, 1997.
Hebard TN881 .W8 U6243 1997

Garton, Thelma.
[Wheatland, WY:
Hebard PS 3557

A Wyoming Woman's Poetry.

Garton, 1995?]
.A788 W96 1995

Kurutz, Gary F. The California Gold Rush: A
Descriptive Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets
Covering the Years 1848 - 1853. San Francisco: Book
Club of California, 1997.
Hebard & Coe F 865 .K87 1997

bprmg

1998

Lambert, Page. In Search of Kinship: Modem
Pioneering on the Western Landscape. Golden, CO:
Fulcrum Publishing, 1996
Hebard & Coe F 769 .S86 L36 1996

Legacy: New Perspectives on the Battle of the Little

Bighorn. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press,

1996.

Hebard & Coe E 83.876 .L44 1996

Older Titles

Brown, Mark H. The Flight of the Nez Perce.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982 ®1967.
Hebard & Coe E 83.877 .B7 1982

Casper Centennial Cookbook.

Centennial Corporation, 1989.
Hebard TX 715 .C376 1989

Casper, WY: Casper

Leveque, Ray. Station Agent, Rock Springs,

Wyoming: 1847-1909. Westminster, CA: the Author,

1995.

Hebard F 769 .R6 L49 1995

Miller, Brian, Richard P. Reading, and Steve Forrest.
Prairie Night: Black-Footed Ferrets and the Recovery
of Endangered Species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1996.
Hebard & Science QL 737 .C25 M554 1996

Moffat, Riley. Population History of Western U.S.
Cities and Towns, 1850-1990. Lanham, MD: The
Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996
Hebard & CoeRef HB 3525 .W38 M64 1996

Cleland, Robert Glass. Pathfinders. Los Angeles:
Powell Puhlishmg Company, 1929.
Hebard & Coe F 856 .C197 1929

Includes information on Jedediah Smith and
John C. Fremont. Also contains material on the fur
trade and the Overland .settlers.

Compiled Ordinances of the City of Sheridan,
Wyoming, 1913. Sheridan: Press of Mills Printing
Company, 1913.
Hebard KFX 2381 .S447 A35 1913

Gladding, Effie Price. Across the Continent by the
Lincoln Highway. New York: Brentano's, 1915.
Hebard & Coe HE 356 .L7 G55 1915

A Pictorial History of the Paid Casper Fire
Department: 100 Years of Public Service. Casper,
WY: Casper Fire Department, 1995
Hebard & Science TH 9505 .P538 1995

The Gold Belt Cities: Deadwood & Environs: A
Photographic History. Lead, SD: G.O.L.D.

Unlimited, 1988.

Hebard Folio F 659 .D2 G62 1988

Rhody, Kurt. Rendezvous: Reliving the Fur Trade
Era, 1825 to 1840. Mariposa, CA: Sierra Press, 1996.
Hebard & Coe F 592 .R464 1996

Schullery, Paul (ed.). Mark of the Bear: Legend and
Lore of an American Icon. San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books, 1996.
Hebard & Science QL 737 .C27 M33 1996

Spence, Gerry. The Making of a Country Lawyer.

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
Hebard & Coe KF 373 .S64 A3 1996

Taylor, Tory. Plains & Peaks: A Wilderness

Outfitter's Story. Moose, WY: Homestead Publishing,

1994.

Hebard & Science SK 45 .T39 1994

Williamson, Rosemary Duff. Mama Pays the Grocery
Bill. Lubbock, TX: Millenia Books, 1996.
Hebard & Coe HQ 759 .W555 1996

Wooden, Wayne S. Rodeo in America: Wranglers,
Roughstock & Paydirt. Lawrence: University Press of
Kansas, 1996.
Hebard & Coe GV 1834.5 .W66 1996

Luttig, John C. Journal of a Fur-Trading Expedition
on the Upper Missouri 1812-1813. Edited by Stella M.
Drumm. NY: Argosy-Antiquarian Ltd., 1964,
Hebard HD 9944 .U46 M8 1964
CoeMfilm F 591 .W4633 r.337 n.333

Simpson, Charles D. and E.R. Jackman. Blazing

Forest Trails. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, Ltd.,

1967.

Hebard & Science SD 373 .S58

Webb, Todd. Gold Strikes and Ghost Towns. Garden
City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961.
Hebard & Coe F591 .W33

Covers Miner's Delight, Atlantic City and
South Pass City

Vivian, A. Pendarves. Wanderings in the Western

Land. London: S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington,

1880.

Hebard F 595 .V84 1880b

Government Publications

Atlas of the Sioux Wars. Fort Leavenworth, KS:
Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and
General Staff College, 1993.
Hebard & Docs Folio D 1 10.2: SI 7

INDEX

Albright, Horace, 28
Alder Gulch, 12
Alderson, John, 16
Alderson, William, 16
Alger, John, 34
Allensworth, Captain - ,16, 20
Ancient Bluff Ruins, 34
Antelope Creek, 9
Arrow Ranch, 1 8
Atchison, William, 16, 19
Axtell, James, 32

Badwater Creek, 13, 18, 23
Baker, Charles, 16, 18, 19, 20
Battle of Elkhom Tavern, 26
Beckton, Wyoming, 1 1
Berks County, Pa., 25
Berthoud, Capt. E.L.,14
Bessette, Amede, 18
Big Goose Creek, 1 1
Big Horn Basin,

ll, 14, 15, 18, 23
Big Horn ferry, 10
Big Horn River, 3, 10,

?3, 14, 18, 19, 20
Billings, Montana. 7
Billman Creek, 7
Bingham post office, 7
Bird's Eye Pass, 13
Blacks Fork, 13
Blake, F. W., 32
Blanchard, Rev. Jonathon, 16
Boulder River, 22
Bozeman, John, 3, 6, 8, 15
Bozeman to Fort Laramie Road

Company, 8
Bozeman Trail, 3-11, 23
"Bozeman Trail. 1863-1H68. " by

Susan Badger Doyle, 3-1 1
Braun, Estella, 27
Bridger Creek, 18, 22
Bridger Cutoff, 16, 18
Bridger, Jim, 8, 10, 15, 17, 20,23
Bridger, Montana, 13
Bridger Mountains, 18, 22
Bridger Trail, 10, 13, 17
"Bridger Trail: An Alternative

Route to the Gold Fields of

Montana Territoiy in 1864. " by

James A. Lowe, 1 2-23
Brooks, Elisha, 36

Brown, Lt. John, 9
Brown Springs Creek, 9
Bryant, Thomas J., 25

Camp Connor, 9
Carrington, Col. Henry B., 10
Chief Joseph, 22
Choteau Fur Company, 14
Clark, Helen, 32
ClarksFork, 13, 22
Clear Creek, 8
Coffmbury train, 7, 8
Collins, Colonel William, 14,

15
Connor, General Patrick, 9, 10,

14
Coon Creek Valley, 19
Crazy Woman's Fork, 9

Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 34
Dee, Annie Taylor, 35
Devenish, Steve, 37
Devil's Backbone, 19
Dodge, General Grenville, 14
Doyle, Susan Badger,

"Bozeman Trail. 1863-

1868," 3-\\
Dry Fork Cheyenne River, 9
Dry Fork Powder River, 8
Duck Creek, 7

East Pass Creek, 7
Emblem Bench, 19
"Enigmatic Icon: The Life and

Times of Many Yoiint. " by

William R. Supemaugh, 24-

30
Etulain, Richard W., "Religion

in Modern New Mexico, "

reviewed, 43

Farley, Angelina, 32

Ferry boats, 8

Fetterman Ridge, 10

Forsyth, Thomas, 37

Fort C. F. Smith, 3, 10, 11,26

Fort Caspar, 1 8

Fort Connor, 9

Fort Elhs (Mont.), 7

Fort Fetterman, 8

Fort Kearny (Neb.), 26

Fort Laramie, 10, 15, 26

Fort Laramie Treaty, 3, 13

Fort Phil Kearny, 3, 6, 10

Fort Reno, 3, 9

Fort Smith, Ark., 26

"Frontier and Region: Essays in
Honor of Martin Ridge. "
reviewed by Peg Tremper, 42

Gallatin River, 22
Gallatin Valley, 7
Gallegos, Rafael, 5, 15
Gamekeeper, Yellowstone, 24
Garber, Vie Willits, 1 1
Garinger, Benton, 20
Gentry, M. A., 35
GLO survey maps, 23
"Goldilocks on the Oregon

Trail," 31
"Goldilocks Revisited. " by

Rosemary G. Palmer, 31-40
Gomme, George, 32
Goodrich, Sophia, 32
Goose Creek, 6
Greybull River, 13, 19

Haines, Francis, 31, 33, 34, 38

Hancock, Mosiah, 34

Harry Yount award, 30

Harte, Bret, 38

Haskell, William, 18, 19, 20

Hassrick, Royal, 32

Hayden geological survey, 27

Hazen, Col. William H., 10

Hedges, Cornelius, 16, 18, 19, 20

Henry, William, 20

Herold Day's Bow, 18

Himes, George, 39

Hines, Celinda, 31

Housel, J., 20

Humfreville, Capt. J. Lee, 9

Humfreville's Camp, 9

Hunter Hot Springs, 22

Huntington, Olive McMillan, 35

Hurlbut, Allen, 6

Hutton, J. D., 5

Hutton, Paul Andrew, "Frontier
and Region: Essays in Honor of
Martin Ridge, " reviewed, 42

Spring 1998
I

lr\'in, Margaret West, 36
J

Jackson Creek. 1 1
Jacobs, Emma, 3
Jacobs, John, 3, 15, 20
Johnstun, I'llen Perks, 36
jundt, Anna Maria, 25
Jundl, Hans George, 25

Kelly Creek, 7
Keystone Road, 6
Kirby Creek. 13, 18, 10
Kirkaldie, Franklin 12,17
Knight, Joseph 1 6

La Bonte Crossing, 8

"Lakola Noon: The Indian Ncirnilive of

Custer's Defeat. " re\ie\ved by

Gerald Thompson, 41-42
LaPrele Creek, 1 1
Lander Cutoff, 1 2
Laramie Peak, 27

L. D. S. Church Historical Dept., 33
Leaky, D. A., 20
Lee, C. M., 9
Lee, John D., 34
Lodge Trail Ridge, 6
Lowe, James A., "Bridger Trail: An

Alternative Route to the Gold Fields

of Montana Territory in IS64. " 12-

23
Lowenthal, Da\ id, 34
Lucerne, Wyoming, 19

Maddock, Annie, 35
Magee, S., 20
Mammoth Hot Springs, 29
Maps, 4, 21
Marble quarry, 29
Markham, Capt. - , 36
Martineau, Susan Johnson, 36
Masterson, Martha Gay, 35
Maynadier, Lt. Henry, 5, 14, 23
Maynard, Ethel, 16
McCoy, W. M., 20
McKnight, - , 16
McMinn, Bob, 16
McNeal, T. B.. 20

Michno, Gregory F., "Lakota
Noon: The Indian Narrative of
Custer's Defeat. " reviewed, 41-
42

Miller, Joaquin, 38, 39

Miraval, Jose, 18

Montana Post, 8

Moore, John, 32

Mormon handcart company, 36

Morris, Catherine Thomas, 37

National Park Ser\ice, 24, 28

Nebraska City, Neb., 26

Nez Perce Trail, 22

Niobrara to Virginia City Wagon

Road, 9
Norris, Philetus W., 27, 28, 29
North Platte River, 5
Nowood Creek, 13. 19

Oregon Pioneer .Association, 39
Owen, Major John, 17, 18, 19

Palmer, Capt. Henry, 9

Palmer, Rosmary G., "Goldiloeks

Revisited." 31-40
Parkman, Wyo., 1 1
Pass Creek, 7
Peu-Peu-Mox-Mo\, 39
Pourier, Baptiste, IS
Powder River, 5
Powder River Basin, 8
Prairie Dog Creek, 6, 9, 11
Pryor Mountains, 7

Raynolds. Capt. William, 5, 14

Red Buttes, 1 3

Red Cloud's War, 13, 14

"Religion in Modern New Mexieo. '
reviewed by Carl Hallberg, 43

Reminisences, childhood, 33

Richard, John Baptiste Sr,, 18

Richard, John Jr., 18

Richard's Bridge, 5, 6

Ritchie, Robert C, "Frontier and
Region: Essays in Honor of
Martin Ridge, " reviewed, 42

Rock Creek Crossing, 10

Rocky Mountain Bob, 16

Rocky Mountain Fur Company, 1 3

Sage Creek, 8, 20

Salt Creek, 5, 9

Sawyers, James, 9, 10, 22

Schurz. Carl, 27, 29

Shields River. 7, 13, 22

Shoshone River, 13, 19, 20

Shurly fight, 1 1

Shurly, Lt. E. R. P.. 1 1

Signature Rock, 20, 22

Small, H. M., 29

Smithsonian Institution, 26

Soap Creek, 10

Society of California Pioneers, 34

Soda Butte Valley, 29

Soldier Creek. 6

Somers, Belle Redman, 35

Sperry, Harrison, 34

Spotted Rabbit Crossnig, 7

Stanfield 20, 22

Stanfield. Howard. 16, IS. 19

Stansbury, Captain Howard 14

Stanton, Capt. William S.. 1 1

Stateler. Re\erend Leamer B.. 15

Stem, Peter. 32

Stinking Water Creek, 9

Stinking Water River, 19

Stuart, James, 5

Sugar Loaf Mountain. 29

Supemaugh. William R.. "Enig-
matie leon: The Life and Times
of Harry Yount. " 24-30

Szasz. Ferenc M.. "Religion in
Modern New Mexieo. " re-
viewed. 43

Thompson. Gerald, re\ lew of
"Lakota Noon: The Induin
Narrative of Custer's Defeat. "
41-42

Todd, Joe, 1 6

Toelken, Barre, 32, 33

Tongue River, 7, 1 1

Townsend fight, 8

Townsend train, 7

Tremper, Peg. re\ iew of "Fron-
tier and Region: Essays in
Honor of Martin Ridge. " 42

Twin Creek. 7

U. S. Army Topographical Corps.
14

Annals ot Wyoming: Tne Wyoming History Jc

U. S. Geological Suney, 27
Unruh, John, 32
U\ a. Wyo.. 29

Vasquez, Louis, 13
Vaughn, Robert, 16
Virginia City, Mont., 7, 23

Waggoner, George, 38, 39

Walden, W. D., 18
Ward, Francis, 31
Ward, Harriett Sherill, 31
Warner, Mary Eliza, 3 1
Warren, Lieutenant G. K., 14
Washbum-Langford-Doane

expedition, 27
Wheaton College, 16
Whitford, O'Dillon B., 15
Wilgus, Mary Ann Parker, 40
Wind River Canyon, 1 3
Wolf Creek, 6, 7

Yellowstone Cutoff, 1 6
Yellowstone Expedition, 14
Yellowstone National Park, 27
Yellowstone River, 7, 14
Yellowstone River Valley, 3
Young Woman 's Journal, 36
Yount, Andrew, 25
Yount, Caleb, 26
Yount, David, 25
Yount, Harry, 25-30
Yount's Peak, 30

Join tne ^X^oming State Historical Society

and your local nistorical society cnapter

State Membership Dues:

Single: $20

Joint: $30

Student (under age 21): $15

Institutional: $40

Special membership categories are available:

Contributing: $100-249

Sustaining: $250-499

Patron: $500-999

Donor: $1,000 +

The Society also welcomes special gifts and

memorials.

For information about membership in the
Wyoming State Historical Society and infor-
mation about local chapters, contact

Judy West, Society Coordinator
1740H184 Dell Range Blvd.
Cheyenne WY 82009

ommi

Pictures

^itpR.

Restful times

in ol ' Rock River.

Both of these photographs, showing snooz-
ing men. were made in White 's Saloon in
Rock River. The caption on the reverse side
of the original photograph (left) read:
"Business Dull. " The photograph above was
captioned: "Mr. August Kassahn. a local
resident of the community for many years.
The gentleman asleep is interior of White 's
Saloon at Rock River. The time is about
1917." Both photographs are from the
Leslie C. John collection. American Heri-
tage Center. University of Wyoming.

100

BOZEMAN TRAIL

BRIDGER TRAIL

OREGON/MORMON/
CALIFORNIA TRAILS

EVANS CHEROKEE TRAIL- 1849

CHEROKEE TRAIL-1850

MILES

nnais o

Is of

WYOMING

The ^C^oming History Journal

juminer

1998

Vol. 70, No. 3

<.cd Co\e,

issue

ming and 20tn Century Tecnnology

ALout me Cover Art

"Somewhere West of Laramie"

One of the most famous advertisements of all time, the ad was written by Edward S.
Jordan, co-founder and owner of the Cincinnati-based automobile manufacturing
firm which used the ad. The Jordan car was priced at about $2,500 when the lowest
priced Ford was selling for about $500. The car was selling slowly so Jordan took a
train ride to the West Coast, hoping he could come up with a plan to sell more
vehicles. As Jordan 's train passed through southern Wyoming, Jordan watched a
beautiful young woman ride her horse alongside the train for a short distance. The
sight impressed Jordan so much that he turned to a companion and asked where thev
were. "Somewhere west of Laramie, " was the reply. Back home, Jordan sketched out
an ad with the slogan. The ad first ran in Saturday Evening Post in June, 1923. Sales
of the Jordan cars picked up immediately. Soon, other auto makers were using the
new form of "image advertising. " Despite the strong sales resulting from the ads, the
Jordan company eventually failed, a victim of the Great Depression. The ad became
legendary. In 1 945, Printer 's Ink magazine readers voted it the third greatest ad ever
created.

The editor of.4imal.s of Wyoming welcomes manuscripts and photographs on every aspect of the histor\' of Wyoming and the West.
Appropriate for submission are unpublished, research-based articles which provide new information or which offer new interpreta-
tions of historical events. First-person accounts based on personal experience or recollections of events will be considered for use in
the "Wyoming Memories" section. Articles are reviewed and ret'ereed by members of the journal's Editorial Advisory Board and
others. Decisions regarding publication are made b\ the editor. Manuscripts (along with suggestions for illustrations or photographs)
should be submitted on computer diskettes in a format created by one of the widely-used word processing programs along with two
printed copies. Submissions and queries should be addressed to Editor, .Annah of Wyoming, P. O. Box 4256, University Station,
Laramie WY 82071.

Hditor

PKil RoKert^

Book Review hclitor
Carl HallLei-g

Editorial Advison,' Board

Barbara Bogart, Evansttui
Manel Brown, Newcastle
MicliaelJ. Devine, Laramie
James B. CirirTitn, Jr., Cneyenne
Don Hoagson, Torrington
Loren )o>l:, Riverton
DaWa Katnica, Roclc Springs
T. A. Larson, Laramie
)onn D. McDermott, Sneridan
William H. Moore, Laramie
Karyl Rodd, Cneyenne
Slierry L. Smitn, Moose
rliomas F. Stroock, Casper
Lawrence M. TooJs, Worland

Wyoming State Historical Society
Punlications Committee

Riclc Ewig, Laramie

David KatliKa, Rock Springs

Snerr\' L. Smitli, Moose

Amy Lawrence, Laramie

Nancy Curtis, Glentki

Patty Myers, \<1ieatlanJ (ex-of(icio)

Loren Jost, Riverton (ex-onicio)

Pnil Roberts, Laramie (ex-onicio)

Wyoming' ^tate Historical Society
Executive Committee

Patt>' Myers, President, W'lieatland
den Morris, Kemmercr
Mike lording, Newcastle
Linda Fakian, Llievenne
Marna Gi-udd, Green River
Barbara Bogart, Evanston
Kick Ewig, Laramie
j\niy Lawrence, Laramie
DicL Wilder, CocK'

Governor or Wyoming"

Jim Lieringer

Wyoming' Dept. oi Commerce

Tucker Fagan, Acting Director

Karyl Robb, Administrator, Di\', oi Cultural

Resources

Wyoming ParUs & Cultural Resources
Commission

William Dubois, Lneyenne
Micnael J. Devine, Laramie
Diann Keese, L\'man
Rosie Berger, Big Horn
B. Byron Price, Cody
Herb Frencn, Newcastle
Frank Tim Isabell, Snosnoni
Jeanne Hickey, Cneyenne
Hale Kreycik, Douglas

University or Wyoming

Pbilip Dubois, President
Micnael J. Devine, Director,

American Heritage Center
Oliver Walter, Dean,

College or Arts and Sciences
W^illiam H. Moore, Cnatr, Dept. of Histor\'

nnals of

WYOMING

Tne Wyoming History Journal

Special Tecmiolo^y Issue

Summer 1QQ8 Vol. 70, No. 3

Wyoming Memories

Bum Lambs Aren't Really Bums!

Memories or tne Orplian Lamb Business

By Alice Eder Jacobson

Snowplanes, Snowcoacnes and Snowmobiles:
Tne Decision to Allow Snowmobiles into Yellowstone
National ParL

By Micliael J. Yocliim 6

Project Wagon Wbeel: A Nuclear Plowsbare ror Wyoming'

By Adam Lederer 24

Tbe Quest tor Public Television

By Pliil Roberts 34

Book Reviews

Edited by Carl Hallberg 44

Index 45

Wyoming' Picture Inside Back

Annuls of IVyoming The Wyoming Histoiy Joiirnul is published quarterl\ b\ llie \V\omiiig State Historical
Society ill association with the Wyoming Department of Commerce, the American Heritage Center, and the
Department of History, University of Wyoming. The journal was previously published as the Quarterly
Bulletin ( 1 923- 1 925 ), Annals of Wyoming (1925-1 993 ), Wyoming Annuls ( 1 993- 1 995 ) and Wyoming His-
tory Journal ( 1995-1996). The Annals has been the official publication of the Wyoming State Historical
Society since 1953 and is distributed as a benefit of membership to all society members. Membership dues
are: single, $20; joint, $30; student (under 21 ), $15; institutional, $40; contributing, SI 00-249; sustaining,
$250-499; patron, $500-999; donor, $1,000+. To join, contact your local chapter or write to the address
below. Articles in Annals of Wyoming are abstracted in Historical Abstracts and America Histoiy am! Life.

Editorial con'espondence should be addressed to the editorial office of Annals of Wyoming. American Heri-
tage Center, P. 0. Box 4256, University Station, Laramie WY 82071. Inquiries about membership, distri-
bution, reprints and back issues should be addressed to Judy West, Coordinator, Wyoming State Historical
Society, 1740HI84 Dell Range Blvd., Cheyenne WY 82009

ISSN: 1086-7368

special Issue: Technology

Tnree articles in tnis issue relate to various aspects or tecnnology ana now
eacn naa an influence on recent Wyoming nistory. Our "Wyoming Memories"
section ieatures an interesting piece about a young girl's experiences raising
"bum " lambs.

Micbael J. Yocbim tells about tbe controversial decisions to allow snow-
mobiles into tbe tranquil winter wonaerlana or Yellowstone. Tbe story demon-
strates bow decision-makers in government olien must straddle competing in-
terests.

Tbe story told by Adam Lederer in "Project Wagon Wbeel" bas a mucb
different evolution and result. Tbere, a government agency allied witb a major
corporation tried to test unproven (perbaps dangerous) tecbnology in a ligbtly-
populated area. Tbe people or Sublette Lounty, witb belp rrom elected officials,
managed to tbwart tbe Atomic Energy Commission and a major natural gas
producer

A tbird article about tecbnology (independently-rerereed, I must add) is a
nistory I began several years ago about establisbing public television in Wyo-
ming and tbe efforts or two people, in particular, to make it bappen. Neitber
long-time University ol Wyoming President George "Duke" Humpbrey nor
former Natrona County educator and superintendent Maurice Griffitb, suc-
ceeded in tbe goal. Migbt it bave been because or tbe "50-year lag," as Griffitb
called it?

Our usual book review section, ably edited by Carl Hallberg, contains
reviews or several recent books about Western bistory.

Annals still seeks submissions ror tbe "Wyoming Memories" feature. Tbis
feature is an opportunity for readers to gain firstband information about tbe
bistory of tbe state tbat can come only from tbe memory of tbe person wbo was
tbere. Previous "Wyoming Memories" bave included accounts of tbe grassbop-
per scourge in nortbeastern Wyoming in tbe 1930s, tbe "blizzard of 1949," and
oral bistory accounts of Wyoming pioneers. /7

Write us.

Pbil Roberts, Editor

Bum tambs flren'f Really Bum!

memories of the Orphan tamb Business

By Alice Eder Scicobson

To be a homesteader in northern Wyoming in the 1 9 1 Os
into the 1920s was reasonably profitable. My father,
Ernest Eder. settled on his homestead in 1914. With my
mother's homestead and their additional, they had sev-
eral square miles of property south of Buffalo. As late as
1929 paving crops could be obtained from com, wheat
and r\e. By the 1 930s the never-rich soil and a few years
of drought made many homestead fanners switch to grow-
ing li\estock. In 1922 we had se\en sheep; by 1936 we
had 945; in 1944, 1,300.

My brothers, Willard and Herbert, w ho w ere older, w ere
put to work doing fami chores and herding sheep. M\
sister, Jean, and 1 were introduced to the business of rais-
ing bum lambs.

The Eder ranch didn't have very many oiphan lambs
because each ewe was isolated in a holding pen after the

lamb was bom and the ewe and lamb were branded w ith
the same number. Occasionalh a set of twins needed to
be separated because the mother didn't have enough milk
for two lambs. If another ewe had a dead lamb, one of
the twins was "jacketed" and gi\ en to the ewe. To jacket
a lamb, the dead lamb was skinned and its soft hide put
on the "extra' twin. The mother, smelling her deceased
offspring, would usually claim the jacketed twin. After a
few days the jacket was removed.

When all efforts to find a mother for a lamb failed, the
orphan w as taken from the herd. Otir mother w as the usual
one to take the lamb, place it on the o\en door in the
kitchen, rub it until it was wami, then bottle feed it. Jean
and 1 gradualK took o\er this task. I imagine I was eight
or nine when m\ job as milkw armer-bottle feeder be-
came a moming/night/weekend job. Mother was still feed-

, ing the orphan lambs during mid-day

when we were in school.

.At first we kept the lambs m the
coal house, maybe for con\ enience.
as this was the closest building to the
house. Two or three lambs were all
right there. As our ""herd" grew we
had to mo\e them to the brooder
house (half of the building was used
to house young turkeys).

At first, Jean and 1 were content
with three or four bum lambs. After
we gained experience we looked for
a bigger "herd." About a mile away
was a sheep trail used for moving
sheep from the ,Ar\ ada area to the Big
Horn Mountains and their summer
pasture. What happened to a little
lamb that couldn't keep up with the
herd on this 70-mile hike'^ If the
herder w as w alking he couldn't carr\
the lamb all da\ . If the lamb's mother
abandoned it so she could keep up
with the herd, the lamb was as good

Alice ami bum lambs

Annals or Wyoming: Tne Wyoming History Journal

(Top, left): Alice, hei-
sts ter Jean and their
friend, Eileen Eades,
with part of their
"herd. " (Photos, be-
low): "Herding scenes"
All photos from the
author 's collection.

as dead. Many orphan lambs learned at an early age that
they could steal milk from a ewe by coming up behind
her and grabbing a tit before she kicked or butted it away.
This wasn't a very reliable source of milk and the lamb
often grew weaker.

In late May and June, Jean and I would get on a horse,
or borrow the truck if it was available, and go to the over-
night stopping place on the sheep trail — the Nine Mile
Water Hole. We would ask the herder if he had any or-
phan lambs. This was interesting because about half the
herders were from Basque country and could barely speak
English. One thing all herders were — concerned about
helping each and every ewe and lamb in their care. If a
bum lamb was available, he gave it to us.

Sometimes a herder would say he had left a Iamb on
the trail and we would back-track until we found the poor
abandoned lamb — or sadly, its body.

After a few years the herders made every effort to get
the bum lambs as far as the Nine Mile Water Hole. One
year, on a cold, rainy evening, a herder gave us seven
lambs. What a windfall!

Of course, we named each Iamb. (Sheep don't all look
alike and they have different personalities.) I remember
Maude. She was larger and older than most bums. She
had an injured hip and couldn't keep up with the trailing
herd. Maude was selfish and bossy. She was leader of
our bums that year. Maude got to the bottles of warm
milk quickest and butted others out of the way. She was
a survivor.

To feed the Iambs we warmed cow's milk on the kitchen
stove, then with funnel, bottles (beer bottles were a handy
size and the nipples fit well on them), nipples and a pail
of warm milk, we went to the lambs. When being fed,
the baby lamb butted the bottle just as if it was sucking
from its mother.

When the Iambs were several weeks old, we taught
them to drink from a pan instead of the bottle. Straddling
the Iamb, we had it suck on a finger, then pushed its head
and our hand into a pan of milk.Usually, the Iamb con-
tinued to suck our finger and would gulp up the milk.
We gradually removed our finger. Just like children, some
were slow learners and some learned after one lesson.

Summer 1998

Feeding lambs from a pan was a lot faster than the bottle
method.

I don't think Jean was ever so wrapped up in the bum
lamb business like I was. ( She was a good cook and played
the piano well). But where was I? Outdoors leading our
lambs to water or to better pasture. 1 was the one that
went out to find them at feeding time, calling them by
name. "Here Blackie, here Swift Runner, come Hard
Drinker, here Maude." Our best year we had twenty-seven
bums. That was a prett\ good herd!

Mother's sister from South Dakota visited us one sum-
mer. She was fascinated with my running all over the
ranch with my loyal lambs following me. When she re-
turned to South Dakota, she sent a picture she had taken
and enclosed this poem she had written:

ALICE

Alice was queen of the rancho

They, her de\oted band

WHiere she led them, they gaily followed

0\ er foothills or prairie land.

.And each one she called by his surname

.And though each was no less than a bum

They showered her with their affection

When she spoke they hastened to come.

But don't get me wrong about Alice

She wasn't a gun moll, you know.

Though she packed a gun t'was for coyotes

Or perhaps an occasional crow.

And the bums that she ruled were wee Iambics

That had to be bottled to grow.

-Mildred McRibben Cavanaugh

While we were in the bum lamb business, we had a
favorable agreement with our dad. We got the milk,
nipples and pasture free. At the end of the summer at
lamb-shipping time, our bums were shipped along w ith
the much fatter mother-nurtured lambs. Jean and 1 were
given the average weight and price of the herd. Most of
the bum lambs looked pretty scrawny when they mixed
with the herd. We didn't see the profits of our bum lamb
business, except on paper. The amount of our lamb sales
was "put on the books" and saved for a college fund. In
1939, I received $207.70; in 1940, $305.72.

During the last few years when I raised bum lambs we
learned to put a food supplement in the milk. This made
them gain a little more weight but bum lambs were ne\ er
as roly-poly fat as mother-fed lambs.

I don't know how sheep ranchers handle bum lambs
today, but to me back in the 1930s, each lamb was an
adorable pet.

Alice Eder Jacobson grew up on a ranch six-
miles south of Buffalo. Wyoming. She taught
school for thirty-four years in Michigan.
Wyoming and Arizona. She raised five chil-
dren, including Patty Myers. 1997-93 Presi-
dent of the Wyoming State His tor iced Soci-
ety. Alice is retired and lives in Lake Havasu
Citw Arizona.

Alice and lambs. Author's collection.

If you have a " Wyoming memory "
you 'd like to share with .Annals
readers, send it to Phil Roberts,
Editor, Annals of Wyoming, De-
partment of History. University of
Wyoming, Laramie WY 8207L

Michael J. Yochim

Ski trail, made by NFS rangers, near Yellowstone Lake, ^
1969. NFS, Yellowstone National Park collection

19Q8

When World War II ended, the United States settled
into what future historians may recognize as Am-
erica's "golden age." Jobs were plentiful and
wages were good, so Americans enjoyed an unprec-
edented standard of living. More and more Americans
owned cars and had the financial means and free time to
travel. Consequently, visitation in the national parks such
as Yellowstone increased.

Helping to stimulate tourism in winter was the return
to America of the 10"' Mountain Division, the Army's
very successful and prestigious division of skiing troops.
Upon returning, several of the 10"" Mountain Division
members founded the country's first ski resorts, such as
Alta in Utah and Sun Valley in Idaho. By founding these
resorts, the Division members stimulated the interest of
Americans in skiing and in winter recreation. Likewise,
the Winter Olympic Games after the war interested Ameri-
cans in winter vacations.'

Thanks to these larger societal trends, visitation to
Yellowstone greath- increased following World War II.
Visitation exploded from its pre-war annual high of
526,437 visitors in 1940 to 814,907 in 1946 and more
than one million visitors by 1948. Visitation continued
to increase in the 1950s and 1960s, crossing the two-
million visitor mark for the first time in 1965.

With increasing numbers of visitors passing through
the communities just outside Yellowstone, merchants in
those towns urged Yellowstone administrators to open
the park year-round. While the merchants envisioned
being able to drive one's automobile through Yellowstone
year-round, the resulting policy allowed snowmobiles into
the park in winter.

Surprisingly little is known about the details of this
part of Yellowstone's history. Why did the Park's ad-
ministrators allow snowmobiles into Yellowstone? Who
were the primary actors? When did this occur, and when
did motorized winter use begin in Yellowstone?

The first pressure on Yellowstone's administrators to
plow the Park's roads actually occurred prior to World
War II. Local merchants were beginning to see the ben-
efits of increased tourism to their financial returns. It did
not require too much imagination to realize that, if
Yellowstone kept its roads open all year, the merchants
could see year-round returns. For this reason, in 1 940,
Senator Joseph O'Mahoney (D-WY) pressed the National
Park Service to open Yellowstone's roads in winter.
O'Mahoney urged the NPS to consider plowing.-

Arno Cammerer, Director of the NPS, denied
O'Mahoney's request, stating the NPS's reasons against
plowing:

Severe cold, sudden storms and the rapid changes in
temperature make the Park dangerous in winter;

Drifting snow would make the roads treacherous; and
It would require excessive outlays for equipment and
manpower to keep these roads safe for travel.'

Between Cammerer's response and the advent of the
World War, pressure to open Yellowstone's roads disap-
peared for the next seven years, resurfacing w ith the in-
creased visitation after the war. This time, the Big Horn
Basin Clubs, a federation of all commercial clubs of the
Park region in Wyoming, called upon the National Park
Service (NPS) to consider plowing its roads in winter.^
Responding to the request, the U.S. Bureau of Public
Roads (now Federal Highways), in conjunction with the
NPS, conducted a study to detemiine if opening the roads
in winter was feasible. The Bureau concluded that open-
ing the Park's roads in winter was not feasible, and cited
the following reasons:

The standards of many of the existing highways were
rather low, and not well-suited to plowing; The build-
ings in the Park's interior were not winterized; and
Plowing would be too hazardous.-

To arrive at its conclusion, the Bureau derived esti-
mates of the cost of acquiring the necessary plowing
equipment and of regularly plowing, estimates that the
Big Horn Basin Club criticized as "■padded." In fact, con-
tractor V. F. Haberthier of Cod\ offered to sign a five-
year contract with Yellowstone administrators to plow
the Park's roads for less than half of their cost estimate.
The club requested a fornial investigation to detemiine if
the Bureau's objections to winter travel were valid."

The government never did such an investigation, and
Yellowstone's administrators stuck to the over-all con-
clusion reached by the Bureau: "the proposal to attempt
winter snow removal on the Yellowstone Park Highway

' James Jurale, "Historx of VN'inter Use in ^'ellowstone National
Park," (Master's thesis submirted to the University of Wyoming, Dee.,
1986), 102-1 ]2.

• Amo Cammerer. to Joseph O'Mahoney, Feb. 8, 1940, Box L-46,
File "868 Winter Sports," Yellowstone National Park Archives,
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, (henceforth YNP Archives).

■' Ibid.

"" "Seek Year-Round Opening of Yellowstone Hiwa)s," Cod\ En-
terprise, Cody, Wyoming, March 17, 1948.

' Lemuel Garrison, to Regional Director, Oct. 1 1, 1957. IN Box D-
24. File D30. Book #2: "Snow Removal. July 1957 through March.
1958," Regional Archive Depository of the National .Archixes. Kan-
sas City, Missouri.

" "Yellowstone Plan Gains; contractor Backs Year-Round Idea,"
Denver Post, March 12, 1949, and "Charge Park Service Costs Pad-
ded," Cody Enterprise. March 1 6, 1 949.

Annals ot Wyoming: Tke Wyoming History Journal

System ... is economically unsound."^ Thus ended con-
sideration of plowing the roads of Yellowstone for eight
more years.

eanwhile, with much free time in the long winter
of the Northern Rockies, local entrepreneurs tink-
ered with some spare vehicle parts and devel-
oped the first vehicles capable of traveling over snow-
covered roads, the "snowplanes." A snowplane was a
noisy contraption. It had a cab, in which two people could
ride, set on three skis (only one in front, for steering),
with a large propeller mounted on the rear. Akin to an
airboat used in the Everglades, the snowplanes "blew"
around on snow-covered roads without taking off*

The first definitely known use of such a machine in
Yellowstone was in 1 942, by Glenn Simmons of the Rec-
lamation Service, who traveled from the South Entrance
to Old Faithful and to West Yellowstone. National Park
Service rangers made the next recorded trip in 1943 from
the South Entrance, with an eye toward purchasing one
of the machines for government use."* By the late 1940s
the NPS had purchased two snowplanes,'" and had be-
gun using them for winter patrols in the Park interior. On
one such mission in 1946, Ranger Bob Murphy discov-
ered a large group of bison that had broken through the
ice of the Yellowstone River just north of Yellowstone
Lake. Already dead and frozen when he found them on
Februar) 14, Murphy and his coworkers had no choice
but to leave the carcasses in the river for the winter, drag-
ging them out in spring for a mass burial. At that time
they counted a total of 39 carcasses."

Yellowstone's administrators escorted two parties of
photographers into the Park via snowplane to photograph
the snowbound Old Faithftil area in February 1947.'-
Tourism possibilities became obvious. In December, the
Jackson area snowplane owners discussed with Grand
Teton National Park Superintendent John McLaughlin
(who became Yellowstone's next superintendent) the pos-
sibility of making regularly scheduled trips by snowplanes
into the Old Faithftil area. They pointed out that visitors
could experience the Park in winter. Because it was not
his decision to make, McLaughlin demurred. He wrote
Yellowstone administrators to give them a "heads up"
on the matter. McLaughlin wrote that Yellowstone should
deny them permission, because the group hoped to use
some government buildings for overnight accommoda-
tions. He also advised Yellowstone's administrators that
the snowplane owners would not readily accept "no" for
an answer.'^

' Conrad Wirth to Milward Simpson, March 12, 1957 IN Box D-
24, File D30, Book #1: "Snow Removal Oct. 1952 through June
1957," Regional .'\rchive Depositor)' of the National .Archives, Kan-
sas City, MO.

* Walt Stuart, "Interview with Walt Stuart by Leslie Quinn. 1994,"
November, 1994, Drawer 8, Tape #96-8, Yellowstone National Park
Research Library, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, (hence-
forth YNP Research Library).

■* Bob Murphy, "Snoplanes and Frozen Buffalo," Report in the Ver-
tical Files, YNP Research Library, 1994, p. 1.

'" Roger J. Siglin to Brenda Black, Nov. 15, 1977, Box L-35, File
L; "Land and Water Use 75, 76, 77," YNP Archives.

' ' Bob Murphy, "Snoplanes and Frozen Buffalo" (Unpublished paper
in the Vertical Files, YNP Research Library), 4.

'- Superintendent's Monthly Re-
port for February: 1947, 2, YNP Re-
search Library.

'■' John S. McLaughlin to Super-
intendent, Yellowstone National
Park, Dec. 17, 1947, Box. A-247, File
857-10: "Winter Visitors to Park In-
terior," YNP ."Xrchives.

Snowplanes were the first
oversnow motorized ve-
hicles used in Yellowstone.
Shown is a snowplane in
the Norris Geyser area in
February, 1943. Note the
small wheels for steering
across the bare areas,
where the lack of snow
made steering impossible.

IQQS

The possibility of such regularly scheduled trips touched
off a minor panic in Yellowstone, as evidenced by the
flurry of letters following the arrival in Yellowstone of
McLaughlin's letter. First, Acting Superintendent of
Yellowstone Fred Johnston wrote Lawrence Merrian, the
regional director, requesting advice in the matter, "since
we believe the problem to be of a policy nature requiring
a decision by higher authority than can be given by us."
However, he added that "under present conditions, i.e.,
extreme isolation of this section of the Park in winter, we
do not feel that the type of use ... is desirable" because
the numerous dangers involved made such an undertak-
ing very risky. '■* Merriam responded six days later that
"it seems to us that no permit should be issued [for regu-
larly scheduled trips, but] we are hardly in a position to
prevent iiuiiviLiiial trips b> snow plane into the Park" (em-
phasis added). If such individual trips materialized,
Merriam suggested having travelers register with the rang-
ers at the South Entrance. The rangers could inform them
of the risks they were taking." Johnston formally adopted
Merriam's policy just three days later.'"

It seems odd that Regional Director Merriam and Act-
ing Superintendent Johnston felt helpless to prevent such
individual trips into the Park, since Johnston and Super-
intendent Edmund Rogers exercised full authority over
the Park in all other matters. For example, in the next
two years, Johnston or Rogers denied permission to five
different parties to take extended ski trips into the Park,
and also would not allow automobiles on the snow-cov-
ered roads in the interior of Yellowstone.'' For whatever
reason, though, Rogers, Johnston and Merriam felt pow-
erless to control individual motorized trips.

It seems additionally odd that Rogers and Johnston per-
mitted such motorized use, given the recognition by Su-
perintendent Rogers in 1948 — before such use had be-
gun— that "the passage of several snowmobiles over the
roads would pack the snow so that later freezing would
leave a very hard layer of ice which would seriously im-
pede the progress of our plows when they open the road.
This would add materially to the cost of our snow re-
moval operations."'" While they recognized this prob-
lem with snowmachine use on its roads, they did not do
anything to prevent the problem.

The first "purely pleasure" trips by snowplanes occurred
two years later, from January to March 1949. A total of
35 people traveling in 19 snowplanes made the trip to
Old Faithful or West Thumb from West Yellowstone.
Snowplane trips fi-om West Yellowstone probably began
earlier than those from the South because visitors travel-
ing from West had thirty fewer miles to travel to Old
Faithful — one way — than visitors entering trom the south.

Table 1. Winter Visitation to Yellowstone National
Park, 1948-57.-

Number of Visitors Total Visitation,

Snowmachines on Dec. -March

Snowmachines of each winter

1948-49 >32 >61 3888

1949-50 77 162 8077

1950-51 3 (mild winter) 8 8180

1951-52 35 >56 8198

1952-53 ? >59 3314

1953-54 >9 171 4913

1954-55 >100 631 4995

1955-56 138 580 3242

1956-57 >76 533 3223

Note: Total visitation includes visitors entering the North
Entrance bv car.

'- i

The Superintendent of the Park reported that "it appears
that this mode of travel is becoming more popular."'"

Indeed it was. Motorized visitation to Yellowstone in
winter occurred regularly throughout the 1950s. (See
above fable). The surge in visitation in the winter of 1 954-
55, reflected the fact that two West Yellowstone entre-
preneurs used a snowcoach for winter tours of the Park
that winter. A snowcoach, manufactured by Bombardier
of Quebec, Canada, was a van-sized vehicle capable of
carrying up to 12 people in its heated interior. In 1952,
Harold Young and Bill Nicholls, the two West
Yellowstone motel operators, realized that the winter w on-
derland of Yellowstone could be a "good tourist gim-
mick." The two men applied to the NPS to obtain a per-
mit to lead charter snowcoach trips into the Park.
Yellowstone's administrators refused permission for three
years, mainly out of safety concerns, worried that the
snowcoaches would become stuck. They finally relented
in January 1955, as long as Young and Nicholls would

'•■ Fred Johnston to Regional Director, Dec. 24, 1947. Box .^-247.
File 857-10: "Winter Visitors to Park Interior," YNP .Archives.

'" Lawrence Merriam to Superintendent. Yellowstone National Parl<,
Dec. 30, 1947, Box A-247. File 857-10; "Winter Visitors to Park
Interior," YNP Archives.

'" Fred Johnston to Chief Ranger LaNoue, Jan. 2. 1948, Box A-
247, file 857-10: "Winter Visitors to Park Interior," YNP Archives. I
am the first to record the information regarding these events in 1947,
because Box A-247 was previously unavailable to Yellowstone re-
searchers.

" Edmund Rogers (Superintendent), OR Fred Johnston (Acting Su-
perintendent) to the following: Jim Sykes, Feb. 17, 1949; C.W. Egbert,
Dec. 22, 1949; Carroll Wheeler, Nov. 28, 1950; Herbert Richert. D.ec.
12, 1950; and Henry Buchtel. March 30, 1951; all in Box A-247, File
857-10: "Winter Visitors to Park Interior." YNP Archives.

'* Edmund Rogers to Caroline Madden. March 11, 1948, Box A-
247, File 857-10: "Winter Visitors to Park Interior," YfOP .Archives.

'" Superintendent's Monthly Report. Jonuaiy 1949. \ YH? Re-
search Library.

Annals of Wyoming; The \<yoming History Journal

Highway mainte-
nance supervisor
Charlie Shumate of
Colorado at West
Thumb Geyser Basin.
1957. The propeller
is in motion at the
rear (left).

not advertise their service.-" The reason for the secrecy is
unclear, but was probably intended to keep many tour-
ists from making the risky trip into the snow-covered,
remote and unguarded Yellowstone interior. Young and
Nicholls began their snowcoach tours that winter, and
continued to operate such tours for ten years, finally re-
linquishing their pennit to operate to the Yellowstone
Park Company in 1966.-'

By 1957 the problem that Superintendent Rogers
foresaw — that snowmachines would compact the
snow, making plowing more difficult in spring —
was becoming apparent. However, Yellowstone's admin-
istrators found a \\ a\' to plow the roads despite the com-
pacted snow and ice: "By using a combination of the V-
plow and graders with ice blades and discs, it was pos-
sible" to get the roads open by their normal opening
dates. -^ Additionally, the snowmachines damaged the
road surface in themially wanned areas — areas unique to
Yellowstone in which the ground or road itself is warm,
and consequently bare in winter. By the early 1970's,
Park administrators discovered that wood chips laid on
the road in such thennally-w armed areas would both pro-
tect the road and also enable snowmachines to travel
across such bare areas. They still use wood chips in this
manner.

Yellowstone administrators had received pressure to
open the Park roads to automobiles. Instead, they opened
the Park to snowplanes and snowcoaches.

In 1 956, the National Park Service launched the "MIS-
SION 66"-'' program, which unwittingly began the sec-
ond round of pressure to plow Yellowstone's roads. Rec-
ognizing that the post-war prosperity and increasing ur-
banization of America were bringing more visitors to the

National Park System than the system was able to handle,
the NPS directors created MISSION 66, an ambitious
ten-year program to "develop and staff these priceless
possessions of the American people [so] as to pennit
their w isest possible use: maximum enjoyment for those
who use them." Construction of visitor facilities was to
be an important part of the program: "Modem roads,
well planned trails, utilities, camp and picnic grounds,
and many kinds of structures needed for public use or
administration, to meet the requirements of an expected
80 million [nationwide] visitors in 1966, are necessary.
"Outmoded and inadequate facilities will be replaced
with physical improvements adequate for expected de-
mands."-" The Secretary of the Interior wrote the Presi-
dent that "MISSION 66 covers all the anticipated needs
of the Parks [and] plots a comprehensive and well-bal-
anced schedule of improvement."-"

-" Robert S. Hallida\, "Yellowstone in Winter," Parade. Vlarch
13, 1955, 11.

-' Superintendent's Monthly Report for December, 1966. 2. YNP
Research Library.

" Compiled from the Superintendent's Monthly Reports from 1948
to 1957, YNP Research Library.

-■' Superintendent's Monthly Report for April. 1957, 10, YNP Re-
search Library.

-^ "MISSION 66" was almost always capitalized, as indicated, in
the literature of the time.

-■' "What is Mission 66?," pamphlet (no page number given). Box
W-141, File A98: "Conservation and Presentation of .Areas for Pub-
lic Enjoyment: Mission 66," YNP Archives.

-" Douglas McLay to The President, Feb. 1, 1956, Box YPC-91,
File "NPS-1956 General CoiTespondence," YNP Archives.

Summer 19Q8

This program of development affected virtually all na-
tional park system sites, and focused on the larger parks
such as Yellowstone. In Yellowstone the efforts were on
road improvements, housing improvements, and the con-
stniction of Can\ on Village, with a modem-looking lodge
surrounded by 500 cabins available for overnight guests.-'

In addition to its development program, MISSION 66
recognized another way to provide for increased num-
bers of visitors: extending the length of the Park's tour-
ist season. Initially MISSION 66 onl\ encouraged a longer
summer season — from May to October, rather than June
to September.-** Park planners recognized that opening
the Park in winter would provide another means to pro-
vide for increased numbers of visitors. Consequently, in
the MISSION 66 Report for Yellowstone, park planners
stated that "oversnow use has already been introduced
... and today's thinking includes the encouragement of
this type of use in preference to [the plowed] opening of
the roads.""-'' The MISSION 66 proposal encouraged win-
ter use, allowing more people to visit Yellowstone and
also take some pressure off the Park during the summer.
.A.dditionall\\ MISSION 66 prefeiTed oversnow use rather
than plow ing the roads, pushing the Park to continue al-
lowing snowmachines rather than plowing.

In apparent adherence to the directive of MISSION 66,
Conrad Wirth, the National Park Service Director in 1957,
issued a "'Memorandum to all Field Offices and the Wash-
ington Oftlce,"" stating:

It is recognized that important recreational benefits are
available during the winter months in the Parks of the
NPS having a heavy fall of snow. ... It is further recog-
nized that the use of such parks for healthful, out-of-door
recreation during the winter months is a very desirable
way to make scenic and other natural values of the Sys-
tem available for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.

It is, therefore, the policy of the National Park Service
to encourage winter use programs. The objective will be
the maximum benefits possible to the largest number of
people.'"

Wirth believed that closing the roads in winter was
■"not taking full advantage of the investment" the NPS
had in them. Opening the roads would more fully utilize
that investment.-''

The Director may have been responding to the same
pressure Yellowstone officials were feeling. Lemuel Gar-
rison, Yellowstone's Superintendent, wrote that "because
of the pressure which has been put on the NPS and the
Park to get the roads open earlier in the spring. . . .we are
advancing the snow plowing operations [for spring,
1957].""'- The "Highway 89"" Association — a group of
businesses located along U.S. Highway 89, which passes

through Yellowstone — was the source; they not only de-
sired an earlier spring opening of Yellowstone"s roads,
but also wished to see U.S. 89 plowed all winter from
Livingston to Jackson, through Yellow.stone."' Also join-
ing the fray was the Wyoming Highway Commission
and Wyoming Governor Milward Simpson, who also
urged Yellovvstone"s administrators to keep the Park"s
roads open all winter.'"*

The pressure worked. Senator O'Mahoney took action
again, stating that the NPS "would make another survey
soon to decide whether it was feasible to keep the
Yellowstone roads open all winter."'" Bv Julv,
Yellowstone"s administrators had fomied a committee
to study the matter. On the committee were representa-
tives of the National Park Service; Colorado, California
and regional highway departments; the Bureau of Public
Roads; the American Automobile Association; and
Yellowstone Park Company personnel. The NPS stated
that "Eight years have elapsed since the Bureau of Public
Roads" study of 1949, and in the interim improvements
in snow removal equipment and methods have been such
as to indicate the need of evaluating their applicabilitv to
Yellow stone."" The group toured Yellowstone"s road svs-
tem, both that summer and the following winter, discuss-
ing at length the feasibility of opening Yellowstone"s
roads in winter.'" They examined all aspects of winter in
Yellowstone, including the climate, topography, safety
factors, travel trends, road conditions, and costs."

-' USDl-NPS (author), "MISSION 66 for Yellowstone National
Park." 5. Vertical Files, File "MISSION 66," YNP Research Lihrarx.

■* W.G. Games: "A Look Back to Look Ahead," talk given at the
MISSION 66 Frontiers Conference, April 24, 1961, Box \PC-01,
File "NPS — 1956 — General CoiTespondence," YNP Archives.

-' Yellowstone National Park. NPS, HSDl, "MISSION 66: A Look
Ahead," 73. Box D-20, Folder 4: "1956: Final MISSION 66 Report
for Yellowstone," \'NP .Archives.

'" Conrad Wirth to Washington Office and All Field Offices, .Ian.
25, 1957, Box YPC-91, File "NPS-1957." 'i'NP Archives.

" "Summary Minutes. 37"' Meeting of the .Advisor. Board on Na-
tional Parks, Historic Buildings and Monuments," October 7-10. 1957.
21, Box A-238, File A1619: -.Advisory Board on National Parks. His-
toric Buildings and Monuments, 1957," YNP .Archives.

'- Lemuel Garrison to Huntley Child. Feb. 25. 1957, Box ^'PC-9I,
File "NPS-1957," YNP Archives.

" HC, Jr. [Huntley Child, .Ir] to JQN [John Q, Nichols|. Feb. 27,
1957, Box YPC-91, File "NPS-1957." ^'NP Archives.
''' "Wyoming Urges All Entrances to Park Open Simultaneously,"
Great Falls Tribune. March 12, 1957.

-'' Ibid

"• Wan-en Hamilton to John Q. Nichols. JuK 9. |957. Box ^■pC-91.
File "National Park Service — 1957," YNP .Archives.

'■ NPS, USDI. "Infoimation for the Snow Survey Committee Con-
ceming Possibilities of Keeping Park Open for General Public Use
the Year Round," Box D-42, File "Snow Removal (Roads), 1932-
1959," YNP Archives.

Annals oi Wyoming; The Wyoming History Journal

The Snow Survey Committee (1958) used
a variety of early oversnow vehicles to
travel Yellowstone 's interior road system
in winter. The photo (left) shows them
stopped at Virginia Meadows, traveling in
one "Sno-cat" and four Army weasels. At
other times, they used snowplanes and
Bombardier snowcoaches.

(Below) — The Snow Survey Committee
poses for a photograph at Old Faithful, with
an ovenvintering mule deer watching. The
snow at the Old Faithful elevation is typi-
cally too deep for mule deer, but the ther-
mally warmed bare areas compensate, en-
abling a few deer to survive in that harsh
climate.

National Park Sen'ice,

Yellowstone National Park photographs

Lemuel Garrison (right) was superintendent
of Yellowstone in the 1950s, during the sec-
ond round of pressure to plow Yellowstone 's
roads. The photo of Garrison, a NFS em-
ployee and snowplane was made in 1957.

Summer 1QQ8

The following spring, the group made its recommen-
dation; year round operation "is deemed feasible but not
practical." The committee cited as reasons Yellowstone's
poor road standards, the extremely low projections of
winter traffic use, Yellowstone's remote location, and its
generally severe winter weather.'* After all, conditions
in Yellowstone's interior had not changed that much in
eight years.

The committee's report settled the matter for another
seven years—at least, no record of any significant pres-
sure on the NPS appears until 1964. In the meantime,
MISSION 66's encouragement of oversnow vehicle visi-
tation had an effect, as more and more winter visitors
vacationed in the Park. Visitation in the Park via
snowcoach from West Yellowstone steadily increased
from 1957 to 1966, (as Table 2 below illustrates); b>' the
1963-64 season more than 1,000 visitors had taken such
a tour.

In January 1963, Yellowstone's administrators per-
mitted the first private snowmobiles-three Polaris
Snow Travelers-to enter the Park.""' One year later.
Acting Superintendent Luis Gastellum noted that "six
Polaris Snow Travelers with 14 people visited the Old
Faithful area. Polaris is a toboggan with tracks and [is]
motor driven — [a] powered oversnow sled — which many
people are buying."^'

These sleds were the first snowmobiles allowed to
enter Yellowstone. Their operators registered just as the
snowcoach operators did — by stopping at the self-regis-
tration station at the West Entrance, w hich was not staffed
in w inter.""- Hence, the Park administrators lumped these
smaller machines in with the larger snowcoaches, essen-
tially considering them to be the winter equivalent of the
automobile.

Table 2.

Winter Visitation to Yellowstone NP, 1957-67."

YEAR

Trips*

Visitors

Total Visitation,

on snowmachine

Dec. -March

1957-58

>85

2442

1958-59

>34

>345

2679

1959-60

>265

2552

1960-61

508

4363

1961-62

>85

4268

1962-63

>98

2999

1963-64

>70

1067

5571

1964-65

?100

1326

6382

1965-66

400

2662

9741

1966-67

1893

5218

12431

*may inc

lude more than one snowmachine

Visitation was increasing on other fronts as well, per-
haps because park administrators encouraged it. For ex-
ample, in the 1964 Yellowstone Master Plan they stated:
"Winter Use of the Park should be encouraged by ex-
tending the operation of oversnow equipment from the
West Entrance and soliciting additional operators from
[the] other entrances.""*"

In the Monthly Report for November, 1964, Superin-
tendent McLaughlin wrote that snowcoach operator
Harold Young "has made arrangements with the North-
em Pacific Railway company to have two tours a week
out of Chicago." Groups of visitors traveled from Chi-
cago to Yellowstone via rail, and then took Young's
snowcoaches into the Park for a tour.^^ Young's agree-
ment with the Northern Pacitlc illustrated that the winter
tourism possibilities were becoming realities.

Later that winter, NBC television filmed "Winter
Comes to Yellowstone," part of the Wild Kingdom series
narrated by Marlin Perkins of the St. Louis Zoo. Wild
Kingdom was a popular wildlife show of the time, view ed
by an average of 17 million viewers weekly.""' "Winter
Comes to Yellowstone" featured comparisons of various
features as seen in summer and in winter, and the activi-
ties ofwinter rangers."*" Aired on March 14, 1965, it prob-
ably contributed to the dramatic increase in visitation in
Yellowstone the next year (see Table 2).

A snowmobile demonstration that occurred in March
1965, certainly contributed to the increase in winter visi-
tation as well. Monte Wight, a snowmobile dealer of
Pinedale, Wyoming, requested and received pennission
to take 27 Ski-Doos — a brand of snow mobile — on a two-
day trip through the Park. Wight and his companions tra\ -
eled from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful the first day.
With no overnight accommodations open at Old Faithful

'* NPS, USDl. "Report of the Snow Survey Committee, Yellowstone
National Park, May l')58." 5-6. Bo.x A-165. File A4055: "Confer-
ences and Meetings- 1%9: Tri-State Comm. And Master Planners."
^'NP Archives.

'" Compiled from Superintendent 's Monthly Repuns. I '5S7-67. '^'NP
Research Library.

'" Superintendent's Monthly Report for Januaiy. 1963. J. \'NP Re-
search Library.

^' Superintendent's Monthly Narrative Report for JiinuaiT 1964. L
YNP Research Library.

■•- Superintendent 's Monthly Report for March. 1967, 2, and photo-
graphs following p. 9.

" NPS, Yellowstone Master Plan Final Draft. April 1964. 100,
Box D-67, YNP Archives.

•'•' Ibid., 3.

'^ Superintendent's Monthly Report for Januaiy. 1965. 3. \'NP Re-
search Library.

■"■ Staff Meeting Minutes for November 19, 1964, Bo.x .•\-152, File
A40: "Conferences and Meetings, Yellowstone StatTMeetings. 1964."
4. YMP Archives.

Annals of Wyoming: Tlie Wyoming Histoiy Jo

National Park Ser\ice, Yellowstone National Park

Harold Young and Bill Nichols of West Yellowstone
operated the "Snowmobiles of West Yellowstone "
fi-om 1955-1966. Prior the development of the mod-
ern snowmobile, these Bombardier Snowcoaches
were known as snowmobiles. Evidently. Young and
Nichols used creativit}' in decorating their vehicles.

at that time, Wight's party returned via snowcoach to
West Yellowstone to spend the night, leaving their snow-
mobiles at Old Faithfid. Returning to Old Faithful via
snowcoach the next day, the members fired up their ma-
chines and continued on to Moran (south of the south
entrance) that evening/' In so doing, Wight demonstrated
to all the touring possibilities of snowmobiles.

Superintendent McLaughlin's remarks concerning the
trip again indicate the encouragement park administra-
tors gave to oversnow visitation. He wrote in his 1965
Annual Report;

It seems inevitable [that] mechanized over-the-snow
travel may replace skis and snowshoes. ...Undoubtedly
more Park travel during the winter months by this type
of machine can be expected and should be encouraged.
This type of recreation is increasing rapidly in this par-
ticular section of the country and its intluence has spread
to Yellowstone National Park. The machines are now
relatively inexpensive and maintenance requirements
simple. Much of the terrain of the Park and its features
are compatible and attractive to this mode of winter
travel.''^

McLaughlin was correct in his prediction. The popu-
larity of the snowmobile exploded. He soon was scram-
bling for regulations to control the activities of snow
machine-riding visitors in the Park. He wrote the Re-
gional Director of the NFS requesting that the same laws
that summer vehicle operators followed be applied to the
snowmobile operators. McLaughlin asked the Regional
Director if "other Service areas are experiencing this type
of winter use and associated problems of control."^' It is
unclear whether the Regional Director responded.

At this time, snowmobiles were largely a novelty, hav-
ing been only recently developed. Snowmobiles were con-
siderably less expensive than the larger snowcoaches —
hence, more affordable to the individual. Such convey-
ances were attractive to area residents who had longed
for years to access the interior of Yellowstone. If
Yellowstone would not plow its roads, then with such
machines, the residents could travel into the snowbound
park. Besides, the NFS encouraged such travel. More-
over, area residents could rent the unusual machines to
winter tourists — and profit by doing so.

Was McLaughlin justified in promoting such machines?
Probably. After all, the Director of the NFS, Conrad
Wirth, had, just seven years earlier, made it the policy of
the NFS to encourage winter use. When Wirth issued his
policy, he had no idea such machines would become avail-
able in a few years. Hence, McLaughlin may have felt he
was adhering to Wirth's directive. More importantly, here
at last was a way to make Yellowstone's spectacular in-
terior accessible to the world in winter.

Pressure to open the Park's roads to automobiles
resurfaced in 1964. Congressmen from the sur-
rounding states reignited the debate in January,
1 964, by inquiring again into the year-round opening of
the Park's roads; again, their motive was to boost the
sluggish winter economy in their respective states.'"
Representatives of Livingston, Cody, and Cooke City ar-
ranged a meeting between local and Yellowstone offi-
cials in Livingston the following month to discuss the
feasibility of opening the roads in winter. This meeting's
outcome was unclear. Nonetheless, following the meet-
ing, the Park County News of Livingston sent a letter to

^' Superintendent 's Annual Report for 1964, 22-23. YNP Research
Library.

-" Ibid., 23.

^^ John S. McLaughlin to Regional Director, Midwest Region, March
3L 1966, Bo.x A-32, File A88: "Oversnow Vehicle Travel," YNP
Archives.

'" "Projected Costs ( 1964) for Winter Snow Operations," pamphlet,
"Grooming/Winter Preparations Cost," Snowmobile Briefing Book,
Volume 1. black binder in YNP Research Library, (no page number).

?ummer IQQS

the Montana Congressional delegation, promoting the
opening of the roads in Yellowstone.'' At the next staff
meeting in Yellowstone, assistant superintendent Luis
Gastellum, who attended the Livingston meeting, stated
"In 1958 we issued a report stating we would be able to
have winter travel in five or ten years, but we have not
followed through on our development. ... Since winter
travel is inevitable, the Service should begin planning
for it now."'-

The Congressional inquiry and Gastellum's statement
touched off a debate among park staff Should the Park
be open to snowmobiles at all? No mention was made of
whether the Park's roads should be plowed. For the first
time, the park staff had second thoughts about whether
snowmobile \ isitation was appropriate to Yellowstone.
In a staff meeting on January 28, 1966, park officials
discussed the possible future use of oversnow vehicles
and decided that they needed to formulate a policy by the
next year,'' E\identl\, that decision caused staff mem-
bers to think more seriouslx about such use. The topic
came up again at the next meeting on February 25, 1966.
According to the meeting minutes, "there was some dis-
cussion regarding closing down snowmobile operations
and whether it would be advisable to stop travel through
the Park by any type of oversnow vehicle."'''

Further complicating the debate was the radical pro-
posal put forth in April, 1966, by the Yellowstone Park
Company, the Park's chief concessionaire, to plow the
road from Mammoth to Madison, operate snowcoaches
from there to Old Faithful and West Yellowstone, and to

In 1 966, the Yellowstone Park Company took over the

Young-Nichols operation, hiiyino their Bombardier
snowcoaches. By 1968. "ski doos" were in use in the
park— the first small private snowmobiles. Pictured is
a "king-size ski doo. "

open the "Old Faithful Motor Hotel" for winter visita-
tion." Superintendent McLaughlin decided that "the rami-
fications of these proposals need to be discussed prettv
thoroughly prior to any preliminary approval on mv
part."'" (Apparently, approval was not given because the
Yellowstone Park Company (YPCo.) did not open any
facility at Old Faithful until 1971 ).

At this point, the debate became public. Local con-
gressmen again stepped into the action, holding a public
meeting in Livingston about the opening of the Park's
roads in winter. McLaughlin reported in the June
Superintendent's Report;

there has been a considerable tlurry of publicitv on
keeping the '^'ellowstone roads open year around. This
matter was re\ iewed [last month] around Li\ ingston and
[has] spread quickly to other communities. Since close
political contests are in prospect m all three surrounding
states for \arious important offices, the time was ripe to
reopen this perennial subject. Candidates and prospec-
ti\e candidates were almost unanimous in their support
of local opinion in tavor of keeping the Park open all
year despite the high costs and doubtful feasihilitv of the
proposal.''

In response to the public pressure. Park officials em-
barked on round three of cost estimates, visitor use esti-
mates, and statements of policy. But this time these gov-
ernmental ramblings did not mollity the locals. Instead,
pressure intensified, eventually draw ing George Hartzog,
Director of the National Park Service, into the fray.
Hartzog formed the Tri-State Commission, a group of
high-level National Park Service officials and regional
representatives, to study the matter."* The group met tl\ e

^' "Why Not Open Park For W inter .'\ctivit\ For All The People?,"
Park Couim- .Wews. Livingston. Mont., Feb. (i, 1064.

'- Staff Meeting Minutes for February l.'\ \'->M. Box .•\-l->2. File
A40: "Conferences and Meetmgs — >'elloustone Staff Meetings,
1964," YNP Archives.

■'' Staff Meeting Minutes for .lanuary 28, 1^66. Box .-^-172. File
A40: "Yellowstone Staff Meeting Minutes 1966," YNP Archives.

" Staff Meeting Minutes for February 25. 1966, Box .A- 172, File
A40: "Yellowstone Staff Meeting Minutes 1966," YNP .Archives.
This is the only evidence I found from this era indicating that the
Park administrators expressed second thoughts about allowing
snovvmachines into the Park.

'' Ronald Beaumont to John McLaughlin, .April 5. 1966, Bo.x C-4,
File C-38: "Concessionaire Contracts and Permits," YMP .Archives.

'" John McLaughlin, to Art Bazata. .April 12, 1966, Box C-4, File
C-38: "Concessionaire Contracts and Permits," N'NP .Archives.

-" Supenniendent 's Sloinlilv Xnrniliw Report. June. I ')66. 19. ■^'>.P
Research Libran.

■^^ George Hartzog to Tim Babcock. Govemor of Montana, .Aug.
1 9, 1 966, Box A- 1 65. File A4055 : "Conferences and Meetings—l 969:
Tri-State Comm. And Master Planners," YNP .Archives.

Annals ot Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

times in the next year, with the Wyoming delegates
particularly agitating for year-round opening of the Park
roads. Hartzog and the Park administrators recognized
that most of Yellowstone's use was concentrated in the
three summer months. Dispersing that summer visitation
peak had not happened so far despite the longer summer
season. They thought it would be nice if they could dis-
perse it somehow, although they did not want to deprive
the summer program of its already-deficient spending.-'

By March 1967, it was clear that the Tri-State Com-
mission meetings were going to culminate in a con-
gressional hearing on the "Winter Operations of
Roads in Yellowstone National Park."*'' The hearing was
held in Jackson, Wyoming on August 12, 1967, and was
chaired by U.S. Senator Gale McGee of Wyoming. Di-
rector Hartzog began the hearing by stating the position
of his bureau. The form of transportation in winter in
Yellowstone should be that which is most appropriate to
the Park and which improves the quality of park experi-
ence for the citizens. Oversnow visitation was, unless
shown otherwise, the appropriate means of visiting the
Park in the winter. Hartzog stated that it should be en-
couraged, since oversnow vehicles travel on top of the
snow, not in a plowed trench such as automobiles would
travel through.*'

Hartzog's position was supported by the Izaak Walton
League and the Lander Snow-drifters (an early
snowmobiling group) for the same reasons. Over-snow
vehicles offered the best means of viewing the Park's
attractions. Hamilton Stores and the Yellowstone Park
Company agreed with Hartzog, but for different reasons,
mostly economic. It would cost too much for them to
open facilities in the Park's interior in the winter, since
their buildings were not winterized. Mary Back (a Wyo-
ming conservationist) and the National Wildlife Federa-
tion also opposed the opening of the Park's roads. Such
action would be too costly to American taxpayers for the
small benefits they would receive.

The Wildlife Management Institute of Washington,
D.C., was the only group to oppose the plowing of roads
for environmental or wildlife reasons. This group argued
that "winter is the extreme period of physiological stress
for wildlife, and both the direct and indirect harassment
of the animals by humans could be harmful. ""

In contrast, and as expected, nearly every Chamber of
Commerce in Wyoming and the Yellowstone region sup-
ported the plowing of roads in winter. Chambers as far
away as Salt Lake City, Utah, and Amarillo, Texas, (both
on U.S. Highways that pass through Yellowstone) sent
statements or representatives to support the plowing of

the Park's roads. Their motive was obvious: the stimu-
lation of the then-slow winter economy. The West
Yellowstone Chamber was the only one to hesitate in
supporting the opening of park roads. Snowmobile and
snowcoach income were already significant to town mer-
chants. The chamber, however, changed its mind at the
last minute and supported the opening of park roads. *^

Clearly, pressure to open the roads was intense and
coming from all directions. Considering that, it is sur-
prising that Yellowstone did not begin to plow the roads.
But, Hartzog 's mind was apparently made up before he
began the meetings. After all, Yellowstone's administra-
tors had maintained their position for at least the last ten
years. By October 1967, he informed Yellowstone's ad-
ministrators that there would be no additional opening of
Yellowstone's roads in the winter, nor even a longer sum-
mer season (April-November, rather than May-October).*^
Rather, the Park would remain open to snowmobiles.

In the next four years, Yellowstone administrators cre-
ated the snowmobile policy. It consisted of three main
prongs: keeping Yellowstone's interior roads open to
snowmobiles and snowcoaches, rather than automobiles;
grooming those roads on a regular basis to make them
comfortable for travel; and opening the Old Faithful
Snowlodge for overnight use in winter.

Around the time of the congressional hearing. Jack
Anderson arrived from Grand Teton National
Park, where he was superintendent, to assume
the superintendency of Yellowstone. Anderson adhered
to Hartzog's position on the winter use of Yellowstone,
as confirmed at an all-day meeting with all of his leading
staff members on March 17 or 18, 1968.*' This was the
crucial meeting at which Yellowstone's administrators
formalized their winter use policy.

-'' H.L. Bill to Director, Sept. 1, 1966, Box A-165, File A4055:
"Conferences and Meetings — 1969: Tri-State Comm. And Master
Planners," YNP Archives.

'■" Staff Meeting Minutes for March 9, 1967, Box A-226, File A40:
"Staff Meeting Minutes, 1967 — Yellowstone," YNP Archives.

'"' Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Hearings Be-
fore a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. United States
Senate, on Winter Operation of Roads in Yellowstone National Park.
Ninetieth Congress, Second Session, 1968, 6-9.

"-Ibid, 94.

" Ibid

" Staff Meeting Minutes for Oct. 19, 1967, Box A-226, File
A40, "Staff Meeting Minutes 1967 — Yellowstone," YNP Archives.

** Date is March H, 1968 in Robert Murphy to Chief, Division of
Resources Management & Visitor Protection, March 28, 1968, and
March J_8, 1968 in "Winter Oversnow Vehicle Operations" Minutes,
Box L-42, File L3427: "Recreation Activities 1969 — Winter Sports
(Oversnow Vehicle Use)," YNP Archives.

Summer 1QQ8

As he later wrote regarding their decision to permit
snowmachines instead of automobiles, Anderson and his
staff evaluated the three options: plowing the roads, clos-
ing the Park to all users except skiers and snowshoers, or
developing an oversnow-visitation program.

Plowing the Park's roads, in the view of Anderson and
his staff would not enhance the Park visit because it
would create three problems, all a result of creating snow
"canyons" — roads with very high snow berms on both
sides. The canyons would be difficult for the automobile
visitor to see out of Further, they might become serious
obstacles to migrating wildlife. Such canyons might trap
snow in the windier, open valleys of the Park, creating
traffic hazards. Plowing Yellowstone's roads would serve
only the economic interests of the surrounding commu-
nities by giving them easier access to each other in win-
ter."" For these reasons, the director decided not to plow
Yellowstone's interior roads.

Anderson and his staff likewise felt that restricting the
Park to snowshoers and skiers could not be justified be-
cause only a few very hardy skiers could penetrate such a
large park."" As Anderson later stated, "Less than 1/10 of
1 % of the people have the capability to go out in the Park
in the wintertime, using only skis and snowshoes."*'* Clos-
ing the Park entirely was not an option for Anderson,
given the intense pressure he and his staff were feeling to
open Yellowstone to automobiles.

That left the third option: developing an over-snow pro-
gram. "Public pressure to open the Park gave us little
choice — we had to do something," Anderson later wrote."''
Actually, he struck a compromise between the options.
Plowing was inappropriate and too expensive, and ski-
ing-only was too exclusive. Hence, snowmobiling offered
a middle ground, a way to allow winter use without the
expense of plowing. (The cost of grooming park roads
was evidently not known or considered at the time). It

Jack Anderson
became superin-
tendent of
Yellowstone in
J 967. He oversaw
formulation of the
winter use pro-
gram, began the
road grooming
operation and
opened Old
Faithful
Snowlodge.

NPS, Yellowstone National Park

was a solution not too expensive — at that time — for the
NPS, and, also, not too exclusive. Most important, it was
a way to satisfy those interests who were demanding that
he plow the roads. Anderson and his staff committed
themselves to developing a winter program for oversnow
vehicles.

As finally formalized. Yellowstone's snowmobile
policy was:

Snowmobiling, per se, has no place in any natural area
of the National Park System;

A snowmobile utilized for controlled access to a natu-
ral area is as appropriate in the winter as a con\ entional
motor vehicle is in the summer;

Snowmobiles will be allowed to enter Yellowstone Na-
tional Park if confined to the snow-covered road system
which, during the summer months, accommodates con-
ventional motor \ehicles; and

The purpose of allow ing o\ ersnow \ehicles to enter
^'ellowstone is to pro\ ide an opportunity for winter \ isi-
tors to see, and enjoy, the many wonderhil natural fea-
tures and wildlife that are present in the Park.'"

At the time Anderson and his staff made this decision.
the only legislation they had to follow was the NPS and
Yellowstone Organic Acts. Both acts charged them to
provide for the enjoyment of the Park in such a way that
the Park's resources would not be impaired for future
generations. They were clearly providing for the enjoy-
ment of the Park's winter resources by opening its roads
to oversnow vehicles. Likewise, as far as they knew at
the time, snowmobile use of the Park would not impair
its resources. Finally, public pressure to open the roads
was intense. By facilitating visitation while minimizing
the adverse effects Anderson thought plow ing w ould have
on the Park's wildlife and visitors, he was acting in the
best interest of the national park and National Park Ser-
vice.

'" Jack .Anderson, "Interview with Jack Anderson, former Park Su-
perintendent," interview by Robert Haraden and Alan Mebane, June
12, 1975. Drawer 3, Tape 75-3: ^■NP Research Librar\,

"" Robert Haraden (Acting Superintendent), to Lee Wood, March
31, 1972, Bo.\N-l 18, File "Historical Backcountr\ Correspondence."
YNP Archives.

"' Jack Anderson, "Transcript of Con\ersation, Jack Anderson and
Derrick Crandall," interview by Derrick Crandall, April 1, 1977, "Cur-
rent Stuff Section, Snowmobile Briefing Book Voi I. 9. YNP Re-
search Librarv'.

"' Jack Anderson to Raymond Euston, July 20, 1972, Bo.x N-1 18.
File "Historical Backcountry Correspondence," \NP .Archives.

™ Harold J. Estey (.Acting Superintendent) to Robert B. Ranck,
Dec. 20, 1974, Box W-129, File W42: "Special Regulations, 1973-
75," YNP Archives.

Annals or Wyoming: The Wyoming Histon' lournal

Snowmachines ( snowmobiles and the larger snow-
coaches) tend to create moguls, or bumps, in the
road after several machines have traveled the
same stretch. Being malleable, snow is easily displaced
by the propulsion of the snowmachines. Hence, after a
number of snowmobiles have traveled the same stretch
of road, it can become a field of moguls, and can present
some very ditTicult, uncomfortable travel conditions.
These conditions are what Yellowstone's administrators
wished to remedy when they began grooming
Yellowstone snow roads. In this way, Yellowstone's ad-
ministrators hoped to convince the plowing advocates to
accept their oversnow-vehicle program.

The road-grooming program had its roots in the activi-
ties of park concessionaires, who were the first to attempt
to groom the roads. When snowcoaches first started tour-
ing Yellowstone in the 1950's, they frequently became
stuck in the soft, deep snow of the Park's unplowed, un-
packed, and ungroomed roads. To remedy that, tour op-
erators sometimes drove a snowplane ahead of the much
heavier snowcoaches to break trail for them. To ftirther
flatten the trail, the snowcoach drivers pulled behind them
a "drag," a large, heavy wooden contraption that, through
its sheer weight and force of friction, smoothed the mo-
guls that had formed." In this way the early tour opera-
tors "groomed" the road for their use.'-

By the 1 960's the Yellowstone Park Company ( YPCo.)
used its snowcoaches in this manner. Following a snow-
fall, a company employee went out early the next day
with an empty coach to pack the trail for the passenger-
carrying coaches following later in the day."

As late as 1968. the YPCo. was still using its drag to
groom the roads. The drag was made of 2 x 12's, was
around fifteen feet long, and often required two
snowcoaches chained together to pull, especially in new-
snow.'"*

At the policy meeting in March 1 968, the NFS officers
discussed a problem with the company's drag. It tore up
the asphalt road surface, especially over the thermally
bare spots in the roads. Consequently, they recommended
to the YPCo. that they investigate the use of a "roller-
type device . . . similar to those used on ski areas to smooth
ski runs."" This was a piece of a galvanized steel culvert
pulled behind a grooming machine.

The YPCo. never purchased such a device, because their
system of road grooming apparently was adequate for
their needs.'" The company continued to use its drag on
the roads, with its attendant problems.

The coaches often traveled in the very same grooves as
previous coaches, leaving behind two parallel deep

Trenches created by snowcoach trajfic, 1968. Before
1971. the NFS did not regularly groom snow-covered
roads for park visitors. After fresh snowfall. Bombar-
dier snowcoaches had to break trail and later coaches
traveled in the trail broken by the lead coach. Often
they left deep trenches like these.

grooves (where the skis and tracks had traveled) with a
large mound of snow between them. The drag that the
YPCo. used did not eliminate these deep grooves and
mounds," a situation that made travel difficult for the
smaller snowmobiles. **

Anderson noted still another problem with the roads:
"we found we were starting to have injuries because ...
we did not groom roads . . . and the roads just used to be
terrible," due to the increased numbers of snowmobiles

' Bob Jones (former Reservations Manager for YPCo.), telephone
interview by autlnor, Moab, Utah, Nov. 17, 1997.

'- Walt Stuart, "Interview with Walt Stuart by Leslie Quinn, 1994,"
November, 1994, Drawer 8, Tape #96-8, YNP Research Library. Stuart
also mentions driving the snowplanes on Yellowstone Lake as fast as
130-140 m.p.h., and chasing coyotes on Hebgen Lake with them.

" Harold Estey (Chief Park Ranger), to Administrative Officer,
Oct. 16, 1969, Box A-32, File ASS: "Oversnow Vehicle Travel,"
YNP Archives.

'■• Jones interview, Nov. 17, 1997.

'" "Winter Oversnow Vehicle Operations" — Minutes of March 18,
1968 meeting. Box N-1 15, File L3427: "Winter Sports — Oversnow
Vehicle Use," 1. YNP Archives.

"■ Bill Hape (former Assistant Chief of Maintenance for the NPS),
telephone interview by author, Gardiner, MT, Nov. 13, 1997.

"' Bill Hape, in Yellowstone National Park, Winter Information.
1977 (Unpublished green folder in Vertical Files, YNP Research Li-
brary), no page number.

'* Jerry Memin (former Snake River District Ranger), interview by
author, Bozeman, MT, Nov. 1 1, 1997.

Summer IQ'-^b

entering the Park.'" Clearly, there were many problems
with Park snow roads at that time.

Consequently, Chief Park Ranger Harold Estey, after
attending the 1970 International Snowmobile Congress
in Duluth, Minnesota, wrote Anderson that "snowmo-
bile routes, particularly between West Yellowstone and
Old Faithful and between Mammoth and Old Faithful,
will have to receive tread maintenance."'*" By February
1 970, the NPS was considering "tailoring our snow-cov-
ered roads for winter use beginning next winter. With
the type of use we are getting and the fact that we do
invite this type of use, we are certainly going to have to
consider making it safe for the visitor to come into the
Park on [snowjmachines."*^'

Anderson wrote that grooming the roads was the solu-
tion:

We made a detemiination that we should expend some
funds and experiment a little bit with road grooming.
...Once ue started that, then the whole program started
to explode and tra\el increased perceptibly ...The in-
crease in use just came automatically, almost simply be-
cause ue had started grooming. It made the [park] unit
safe, gave a pleasant trip, and yet it ga\e access into the
Park. You know what happened after that.*-

Anderson decided to groom the roads to make them
safe and comfortable for snowmobiles. Because inain-
taining the road for the increasing: nuinbers of

Table 3. Winter Visitation to Yellowstone

, 1967-73^'

Year

Visitation type

Concessioner

Private

Season

Percent

Snowcoaches Machines

Total

Increase

1966-67

Machines

349

1,544

1,893

n/a

People

3,045

2,173

5,218

96.0''o

1967-68

Machines

748

2,352

3,100

63.8%

People

4,359

3,425

7,784

49.2%

1968-69

Machines

728

4,726

5,454

75.9%

People

4,249

6,076

10,325

32.6%

1969-70

Machines

504

8,206

8,710

59.7%

People

4,238

10,978

15,216

47.4%

1970-71

Machines

625

11,614

12,239

40.5%

People

5,241

14,188

19,429

27.7% '

1971-72

Machines

679

17,436

18,115

48.0%

People

5,529

20,271

25,800

32.8%

1972-73

Machines

602

26,826

27,428

5 1 .4%

People

3.846

31,771

35,620

38.1%

1973-74

Machines

698

30,513

31.211

13.8%

People

4,425

35,655

40,080

12.5%

1974-75

Machines

776

26,400

27, .176

-12.9%

People

5,537

30,763

36,300

-9.4%

snowmobilers was not the responsibility of the YPCo.,
the NPS took it over.^' To do that. Park administrators
purchased a "mobile planer," an attachinent made by the
Thiokol Company for its over-snow equipment. It was
ready to use by February 3, 1 97 1 .*'-' That winter the NPS
spent 264 person days on road grooming for oversnow
travel.'*- The Park Service sroomed the South Entrance

'" "Interview with Jack .Anderson, former Park Superintendent."
interview by Robert Haraden and .Alan Mebane. June 12.1 975. Draw er
3, Tape 75-3: YNP Research Library.

*" Harold Estey (Chief Park Ranger) to Superintendent. Feb. 16,
1970, IN Box A-35, File A40: "Conferences & Meetings 1970,"
'I'NP .Archives, YNP, WY.

*' Jack .Anderson to George F. Baggley, Feb. 26, 1970, IN Box .A-
36. File D30: "Roads & Trails 197(3," YNP .Archives. YNP. WY.

*- Jack Anderson, "Interview with Jack .Anderson, former Park Su-
perintendent," interview by Robert Haraden and Alan Mebane, June
12, 1975. IN Drawer 3, Tape 75-3, YNP Research Library, YNP,
WY. In developing his grooming program, .Anderson may have con-
ferred with the Bombardier Corporation, a snowmobile manufacturer
in Duluth, Minnesota. The document entitled "Snoplan — ,A Trail De-
velopment and Maintenance Program," by Jack .Armstrong, the L'.S.
Snoplan Coordinator of Bombardier Corp. in Duluth. MN ( 1 97 1 ) dis-
cusses the "Snoplan" developed by Bombardier to groom roads in
\'ellowstone, Minnesota, and Michigan, with the stated objective of
providing a safe environment for snowmobilers and to lessen envi-
ronmental impact, presumably by confining snowmobiles to the
groomed roads and restricting their off-road movements. I have not
seen a copv of the original document, but rather only a summarv of it
b\ former N'ellowstone Planning Office Ranger Kate Scott, so I am
unable to discern whether .Anderson actuallv did confer with Bom-
bardier.

*' Jones interview, Nov. 17. 1997.
''^ Staff Meeting Minutes for Feb.
2, 1971. 3. Box A-37, File .A40:
"Conferences and Meetings, 1971"
YNP .Archives. While numerous
other sources mention 1970 as the
year road grooming began (such as
Linda Paganelli. "The Historical De-
velopment of Winter Visitor Lse at
Yellowstone National Park," YNP
Research Library Vertical Files,
1980), this is the earliest mention
that I could find of it. With 264 per-
son davs (53 weeks) of work listed
as the number of days spent on
grooming that winter, it is likely that
the NPS began grooming in Decem-
ber, 1970. Since Paganelli does not
cite her source, and because I can
not find an original source with a
1 970 date on it, I chose to adhere to
the Feb., 1971 date.

*' Gary Everhart to Director, Mid-
west Region, Nov. 8, 1971, Box A-
47, File .A6423: "Park Management
1971: Park .Activity Standards."
YT^iP Archives.

Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming Histoiy journal

to West Thumb, the West Yellowstone to Old Faithful
stretch, and the road from West Yellowstone to Canyon
and Mammoth.*** Yellowstone's administrators targeted
the more heavily-used roads on the west side of the Park.
The roads on the east side of the Park remained open to
snowmobiles, but were left ungroomed.

Beginning this grooming program was new for Ander-
son and the NPS. Anderson frequently corresponded with
snowmobile clubs, especially some clubs in the upper
Midwest, for advice on the mechanics of snow groom-
ing.*' Chief Ranger Estey's attendance at the International
Snowmobile Congress in Duluth probably facilitated this
correspondence. Perhaps this assistance from the snow-
mobile industry is the "cooperation" referred to by Ander-
son when he stated: "We've had the cooperation of not
only the national but also the international snowmobile
associations. We've had the cooperation of the industry
itself and, of course, the industry recognized Yellowstone
as the leader in winter recreation."*'*

Indeed, Anderson was correct, because the number of
snowmobiles entering Yellowstone jumped in the next
several winters, thanks to his efforts to provide a com-
fortable, safe, family experience. As Table 3 illustrates,
snowmobile visitation experienced dramatic increases in
the early 1970's. Anderson looked forward to snowmo-
bile visitation increasing,"' which is precisely what hap-
pened. His compromise appeared to be working.

Attempts by the Yellowstone Park Company to
open the Snowlodge began with the company
letter to Superintendent McLaughlin in 1966
requesting that it be allowed to open the "Old Faithful
Motor Hotel.'"" McLaughlin responded, asking that the
YPCo. officials meet with him directly to discuss the
matter.''- Whether they ever did is unclear, but it is likely.
At the congressional hearing in Jackson that summer,
McLaughlin stated that if the YPCo. opened any facili-
ties at Old Faithful for winter visitors, it would be the
Campers Cabin building (probably the same building as
the "Motor Hotel"), since it was partly winterized. If frilly
winterized, this building could provide accommodations
and meals for 100 people."

The idea was apparently shelved. There seems to be no
other information regarding it until 1 97 1 . In the mean-
time, the YPCo. opened another hotel in Yellowstone
for winter visitation — the "Mammoth Motor Inn" (now
known as the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel). Because
visitation was increasing, and the hotel was (and is) lo-
cated on a plowed road, the Yellowstone Park Company
opened it for the winter 1966-67 season.'""

Additionally, the YPCo. began snowcoach tours from
Mammoth in 1966. Logically, it needed an open facility
in that area.'"" The hotel stayed open for a total of four
consecutive winters, but it never made much money, prob-
ably because it was not located in the interior of
Yellowstone where most winter visitors were. It was lo-
cated in the lower-elevation, northern part of the Park,
where the plowed road first turned into the snowmobile
road. Additionally, it was twenty more miles from it to
Old Faithfril than the famous geyser was from the hotels
in West Yellowstone. As a result, the hotels in West drew
more business. The YPCo. closed the facility in 1970.'*'

With visitation increasing, especially to the ever-popular
Old Faithfril, both NPS and YPCo. officials considered
opening a hotel there in winter. About 1969, discussions
began on opening a lodge at Old Faithful in winter. Ini-
tially, the officials were discussing just opening a food
service facility to serve the increasing numbers of visi-
tors, but eventually expanded the idea to include some
simple lodging.'' Demand for some form of lodging and
meal service at Old Faithfril was obvious.'* In fact, the
NPS reported that an increasing number of snowmobilers
were using the heated restrooms at Old Faithful to eat
and sleep in. In the 1960s there was no other place to
spend the night at Old Faithful (or for that matter, to

*' Robert E. Sellers (Acting Chief Park Ranger) to Gene Bryan
(Wyoming Travel Commission), Dec. 20, 1 971 , Box L-36, File L3427:
"Recreation Activities: Winter Sports," YNP Archives.

" Hape interview, Nov. 13, 1997. There is no extant correspon-
dence between Anderson or Hape and the snowmobile groups.

*' Jack Anderson, "Interview with Jack Anderson, former Park Su-
perintendent," interview by Robert Haraden, and Alan Mebane, June
12, 1975, Drawer 3, Tape 75-3: YNP Research Library.

" Dale Nuss (former Park Ranger, Yellowstone), interview by au-
thor, Bridger Canyon, Mont., Nov. 11, 1997.

'*' Summary Record of Snowmobile Use, Yellowstone National Park,
1966 through April, 1978, Box K-57, File "Winter Activities," YNP
Archives.

'' Ronald R. Beaumont to John S. McLaughlin, April 5, 1966, Box
C-4, File C38: "Concessioner Contracts & Permits," YNP Archives.

'- John McLaughlin S. (Superintendent) to Art Bazata (General
Manager, YPCo), April 12, 1966, Box C-4, File C38: "Concessioner
Contracts & Permits," YNP Archives.

'^ Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Hearings Be-
fore a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. United States
Senate, on Winter Operation of Roads in Yellowstone National Park,
Ninetieth Congress, Second Session, 1968, 13.

'* Superintendent 's Monthly Narrative Report for December. J 966,
1 1. YNP Research Library.

'^ Nuss interview, Nov. 1 1, 1997.

" John D. Amerman to Jack Anderson, Aug. 19, 1970, Box C-24,
File "Concessions Bldgs," YNP Archives.

" Jones interview, Nov. 17, 1997.

'* Hape interview, Nov. 13, 1997.

?ummer 19QS

All photos, NPS, Yellowstone National Park

Snowmobiles on Dimraven Pass. 1979 (above). This party
is at "Mae West " curve on the Dimraven Pass road. The
NPS now prohibits snowmobiles on this stretch of road,
for safeh' reasons.

The National Park Service began to groom the roads
regularly in 1971. This photo of one of the early groom-
ing machines was taken in 1975.

In 1971. the Yellowstone Park Company opened the
Snowlodge at Old Faithful to provide overnight ac-
commodations. The temporaiy "Snow Lodge " sign cov-
ered the more permanent "Campers Cabins " sign un-
derneath. In 1973. the company permanently renamed
the building "Old Faithful Snowlodge. " and tore it
down in 1998.

Annals ol Wyoming: The Wyoming Histoiy Journal

relieve oneself).'" Furthermore, Chief Ranger Estey, again
just back from Duluth, stated that "minimum concessioner
services consisting of shelter, gas and oil, and sanitary
facilities ... should be available at Old Faithful."'"" By
the next summer, the YPCo. was "seriously considering
opening facilities at Old Faithful this winter."'"'

On December 17, 1971, the Old Faithftil Snowlodge
opened for its tlrst winter season. Open through March
19, 1972, the Snowlodge featured "simple, pleasant and
comfortable lodging spiced with hearty western food and
beverage and nature's grandest winter display. . . . Single,
twin and triple rooms are available. All are convenient to
centrally located bath facilities."'"- It was the Campers
Cabin building with a new name,'"' with 34 rooms (with-
out bath). The rooms were used in summer by the em-
ployees of the Campers Cabin facility. The company
chose this building because it was one of their newer
buildings at Old Faithful, and it was already winterized.
Although they discussed opening all or part of Old Faith-
ful Inn, they did not follow through on this idea because
the Inn would have needed extensive renovation and win-
terizing.'""' Heating the Inn would have been next to im-
possible, with its 80-foot-high non-insulated ceiling.

The YPCo. offered several tour packages at the
Snowlodge as well as snowshoeing, ski touring, and
snowcoach tours.'"' The Snowlodge and its tours were
clearly popular. In fact, the concessionaire still offers these
services today.

After the crucial policy meeting in March 1968, An-
derson realized he would have to promote the new
winter policy to get it to work and to get the locals
to buy into it. As he later said.

We did the best thing ... try and develop a ... viable
winter program. So, we went ... to ... the International [Snow-
mobile Industry Association], and we talked to the manufac-
turers to try and [sic] encourage them to come in to West
Yellowstone and here. We drew some people in who had high
public visibility — Lowell Thomas was one."""

'''' "Winter Oversnow Vehicle Operations" — Minutes of March 18,
1968 meeting. Box N-1 15, File L3427: "Winter Sports — Oversnow
Vehicle Use," YNP Archives.

'"" Harold Estey (Chief Park Ranger) to Superintendent, Feb. 16,
1970, Bo.\ A-35, File A40: "Conferences & Meetings 1970," YNP
Archives.

"" Staff Meeting Minutes for July 20, 1971, Box A-37, File A40:
"Conferences & Meetings, 1971," YNP Archives.

"'- "Yellowstone Snowtime Adventures," promotional brochure for
Old Faithful Snowlodge for its first season, 1971-72, located at Chief
Executive's Office, AmFac Parks & Resorts, Mammoth Hot Springs,
YNP, Wyoming.

'""' Yellowstone National Park, Winter Information. 1977 (Unpub-
lished green folder in Vertical Files, YNP Research Library), no page
number.

"" Jones interview, Nov. 17, 1997.

"" "Yellowstone Snowtime Adventures."

'"" Jack .Anderson, "Interview with Jack Anderson, former Park
Superintendent," interview by Robert Haraden and Alan Mebane, June
12, 1975, Drawer 3, Tape 75-3: YNP Research Library.

Snowmobiles create bumpy roads.
Without regular grooming, the roads
become fields of moguls. This is Seven-
Mile Bridge on the West Entrance
Road in 1972.

Old Faithful always has been the most popular winter destination. Visi-
tors, in 1971, watch from their vehicles as the geyser erupts. This is no
longer possible. The road was closed to winter traffic in 1974.

IQQS

Clearly, Anderson promoted his new program as best
he could. It is uncertain, however, just what he meant by
talking with the manufacturers and encouraging them to
come in to the Park and West Yellowstone.'"'

He promoted snowmobile use of Yellowstone — at a
very critical time for the snowmobile industry. In the late
]960's. there were more than one hundred snowmobile
manufacturers. Most were attempting to develop a mar-
ket for their products in the West.""* To do that, they
were subsidizing the snowmobile industry in West
Yellowstone by making snowmobiles available through
low-priced leases. Anderson may have s-^en a mutualh
beneficial agreement with the snowmobile industry.
Opening Yellowstone to snowmobile visitation would
satisfy politicians. The industry could simultaneously
achieve its objective of developing the western snowmo-
bile market. Indeed, by 1972, the snowmobile manufac-
turers were leasing their machines to several West
Yellowstone motel owners, who in turn rented them to
winter \isitors.""^

Anderson publicized the new w inter policy by in\ iting
reporters and by writing newspaper articles about
Yellowstone in winter. For example, Lowell Thomas, a
well-known radio commentator, visited Yellowstone in
winter during this time period and gave several nation-
wide radio addresses about his visit to the Park in win-
ter."" Anderson wrote an article promoting a visit to
Yellowstone in w inter, stating "each year more folks are
coming to see the Park during what used to be the "closed"
season but closed no more."'"

Anderson also promoted Yellow stone's w inter program
by permitting another demonstration snowmobile trip,
this time around the Park's Grand Loop (with the excep-
tion of the road from Tower Falls to Mammoth, which
was plowed for automobile use). A group of 28 men and
women sponsored by the Big Sky Snowriders, a snow-
mobile group from Livingston, Montana, took three days
to complete the lS2-mile ride, camping out in the Park
along the way."- Their trip was precedent-setting in that
it was the first such circumnavigation of all the Park roads
in one trip and further demonstrated the touring possi-
bilities of the snowmobile in Yellowstone.

By 1971, Superintendent Anderson had an otTicial
policy allowing snowmachines the use of Yellow-
stone's roads in the w inter. He cemented the policx
in place by promoting it publicly, pro\ iding comfortable
snowmobile roads, and opening a place to stay overnight
within the Park.

At the time snowmobiles must have seemed relatively
benign, despite their high level of noise. Administrators
felt that snowmobiles were to w inter as automobiles were
to summer. Hence, they did not feel it necessary to ex-
amine the en\ironmental side effects of the things. Nor
could an> reasonable person likely ha\ e foreseen just how-
much snowmobile visitation would grow. The managers
were doing what they thought was best for Yellowstone.
Moreover, at the time, the Park's managers felt that open-
ing the Park to snowmobiles carried fewer impacts than
plowing the roads would have. In allow ing snowmobiles
into Yellowstone, Anderson and his staff were motivated
to act in the Park's best interest and in the best interest of
the NPS.

"' Ofthe seven associates of Anderson's that I inters iewed. none
could say conclusively what .Anderson meant b\ this remark. Mary
Meagher (research biologist, ^'ellovvstone), telephone interview by
author, Gardiner, MT, Nov. 3, 1997; Bob Haraden (Ibrmer Assistant
Superintendent of Yellowstone), interview by author, Bozeman. MT,
Nov, 11, 1997; Harold Estey, telephone interview by author, Nor-
t'olk, NE, Nov. 12, 1997; Terry Danforth. interview by author,
Bozeman, MT. Nov. 20. 1997; and author's interviews with Hape,
Nov. 13. 1997; Mernin, Nov. 11, 1997; and Nuss. Nov. 1 1. 1907.

"" Darcv L. Fawcett, "Colonial Status: The Search for Indepen-
dence in West Yellowstone, Montana" (Professional Paper submit-
ted to Montana State University), Dec. 17, 19Q3, 21.

"'"//);</, 23, 27.

"" Jack Anderson to Lowell Thomas, March 17, 1969, IN Box A-
158, File A3821: "Public Relations 1969 (Individuals)." YNP Ar-
chives, YNP, WY.

' ' ' Jack .Anderson to Fred Martin ( Editor ofthe Park Ctyiinn- News),
Dec. 29, 1969, IN Box A-158, File A3815: "Public Relations 1969
(Federal, State & Local Agencies)," \'NP Archives, YNP, WY.

"- "Snowriders to Tour 'Yellowstone's Loop." The Billings Ga-
zette, Jan. 25, 1967.

Michael J. Yochim holds the M. S. degree in En-
vironmental Studies from the Univers it}' of Mon-
tana (1998). This article is derived from a chap-
ter of his Mi thesis titled. "The Development of
Snowmobile Policy in Yellowstone. "Since J 995.
he has worked as a guide in Yellowstone. Prior
to that time, he was a park ranger for the Na-
tional Park Service.

Pf ©J«cf Wm§mm WMmmM

Project Plowshare was the name
given by the Atomic Energy
Commission to a project that sought
"to fmd practical industrial and scien-
tific uses for nuclear explosives."' The
AEC could make the Biblical leap to
beat its "swords (bombs) into plow-
shares."- One idea for Project Plow-
share would have used deeply buried
nuclear explosions to form chimneys
of broken rock into underground res-
ervoirs for water in arid regions.

Scientists, during the 1960s and
1970s, developed the new and excit-
ing technology of nuclear stimulation
in the energy field. Nuclear stimula-
tion, a process where natural gas
trapped in tight formations is released,
was going to be the answer to the
nation's energy crisis, at least in the
view of project proponents.

The process in which the chimneys
stimulated the production of natural
gas attracted the attention of El Paso
Natural Gas Company. The firm signed
a contract with the Atomic Energy
Commission and the Department of the
Interior to explore the feasibility of
using nuclear stimulation in natural gas
production. The agreement was signed
January 31, 1967.^

Plowshare's only focus, seemed to
be nuclear stimulation. The Atomic
Energy Commission's 7972 Annual
Report gave a glowing review of re-
search progress. The research had high-

level support. President Richard
Nixon, in 1 97 1 , had "cited this nuclear
stimulation technology as one of four
Federal technological efforts under-
taken to alleviate the Nation's natural
gas shortage."''

Four nuclear stimulation projects
were planned during the Plowshare
years, three of which were detonated.
The first stimulation project detonated
by the Atomic Energy Commission
was Project Gasbuggy near
Farmington, New Mexico, in the
northwestern comer of the state.

Project Gasbuggy, a single 29-kilo-
ton nuclear device, was detonated
December 1 0, 1 967, and received little
negative publicity. In fact, the project
was "heralded by the New Mexico
Governor, the State's Senators, and
members of the Joint Committee on
Atomic Energy."-'^

The newspapet coverage in New
Mexico was generally positive. The
day after the test shot, one newspaper
included a photograph of a Native
American with an employee of the El
Paso Natural Gas Company. The cap-
tion read, "Space Age First Helps First
American."* Pamphlets describing the
project were printed in Spanish and
English and distributed widely.'

Interestingly, "New Mexico con-
gressmen consistently pressed for
progress on Gasbuggy, and some were
unhappy with the AEC (Atomic En-

By M^mi*

From "Nuclear Stimulaii
Natural Gas," Hearing i\
the Subcommittee on <\
Lands, Committee on I ij
and Insular Affairs, 93r(
gress, May 11, 1973, 44,

Immw WMmsMmwm

^^®milnfl

ergy Commission) for what they felt were unwar-
ranted delays in the Gasbuggy timetable."** This
project was welcomed and encouraged by members
of the state's government. Project Gasbuggy was con-
sidered a technical success according to many be-
cause the "shot stimulated gas flow into the well to a
degree somewhat greater than had been possible
through conventional techniques, but uncertainty re-
mained as to how much improvement had occurred.""^
The project went forward because of overwhelming
support from both elected officials and those living
in the area.'"

The second nuclear stimulation project. Project
Rulison, in Colorado faced opposition. Environmen-
tal groups filed suits opposing the project. In
theProject Rulison test, a single nuclear device of 40
kilotons, was detonated Sept. 10, 1 969, near the town

mplacSement

PRODUCTION

}mercial fielding concept for a nuclear explosive for gas
'lafion. as conceived/or Project Wagon Wheel in Sublette
nt\\ early 1970s.

This article is adapted from Adam Lederer's Political Sci-
ence Master's thesis. Using Public Policy Models to Evaluate
Nuclear Slimiilation Projects: Wagon Wheel in Wyoming. (Uni-
versity of Wyoming, April 1998). The author wishes to thank the
members of the Wagon Wheel Information Committee for pro-
viding him with information for this article.

' .Atomic Energy Commission. 1964 Financial Report. 17.

- Isaiah 2:4

-' Evidence suggests it may not have been the first contract for
nuclear stimulation. In 1963, El Paso, the ,AEC and the Depart-
ment of the Interiorjointly studied the feasibility of nuclear stimu-
lation. See Frank Kreith and Catherine B. Wrenn, The Nuclear
Impact: A Case Study of the Plowshare Program to Produce Gas
by Underground Nuclear Stimulation in the Rocky .Mountains.
(Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, Inc., 1976), 13.

^ Atomic Energy Commission, 1972 Financial Report. 36. On
June 4, 1971, Nixon delivered a "Special Message to the Con-
gress on Energy Resources," that incorporated the term "nuclear
stimulation" while describing efforts to reduce the current short-
age of natural gas. In the message, Ni.xon states "this relatively
clean form of energy is in even greater demand to help satisfy air
quality standards. Our present supply of natural gas is limited,
however, and we are beginning to face shortages which could
intensify as we move to implement the air quality standards."
Ni.xon noted that federal etYort to help alleviate the shortage in-
cluded "Progress in nuclear stimulation experiments which seek
to produce natural gas from tight geologic formations which can-
not presently be utilized in ways which are economically and
environmentally acceptable." Richard Nixon, Public Papers of
the Presidents: Richard Ni.xon 1971. (GPO, 1971). 710.

' Kreith and Wrenn, 49.

" Kreith and Wrenn, 55.

' Kreith and Wrenn, 54.

" Kreith and Wrenn. 54.

" Kreith and Wrenn, 68.

'" Today a plaque marks the point of detonation on the surface:
"Project Gasbuggy Nuclear Explosive Emplacement/Reentry Well
(GB-ER) Site of the First United States Underground Nuclear
Experiment for the Stimulation of Low-Productivity Gas Reser-
voirs. A 29 Kiloton Nuclear Explosive Was Detonated at a Depth
of 4227 feet Below This Surface Location on December 10, 1 967.
No excavation, drilling, and/or removal of materials to a true ver-
tical depth of 1500 feet is permitted within a radius of 100 feet of
this surface location. Nor any similar excavation, drilling, and/or
removal of subsurface materials between the true vertical depth
of 1500 feet to 4500 feet is permitted within a 600 foot radius of
T 29 N. R 4 W. New Mexico Principal Meridian, Rio Arriba
County, New Mexico without U. S. Government Permission.
United States Department of Energx November 1978." Bureau
of Atomic Tourism, "Project Gasbuggy," {http/^www oz.net/
-chrisp/gasbug.htm) Author accessed site March 23, 1998.

Annals or WyomingiThe Wyoming History Journal

of Rifle, Colorado. The site was beneath 73-year-old
Claude Hayward's 292-acre potato-patch. Initially of-
fered $100 a month for the rest of his life to use the
property, Hayward declined. Later "the AEC came back
around with a whiskey bottle and got him good and
juiced up and said they would pay him $200 a month
for the rest of his life."" Heyward signed.

Unlike Gasbuggy, the Rulison project faced opposi-
tion from a number of protestors both at the scene and
in the court system. The day the project was detonated,
four protestors paired off and just before detonation
made their presence known using fireworks inside the
secured zone. A helicopter swept two of the protestors
out of the area while the other two remained and expe-
rienced the blast's shock waves.

Another protestor was in the U. S. Supreme Court
when the bomb went off Tom Lamm, brother of fii-
ture Colorado Governor Dick Lamm, appealed to the
Supreme Court to stop the project. He lost. Tom Lamm
said he "got kicked all over the court, but everybody
was real nice because they all knew that 1 was just a
dumb kid from Colorado." After the ruling was released,
Tom Lamm spent time thanking clerks, avoiding the
press waiting for him outside. When he finally left the
building, "the first thing they said was that the bomb
just went off."'-

Meanwhile, local residents met the Rulison detona-
tion with a "fian afternoon." In fact, one local resident
"remembers being irritated by the protestors who'd
come in from out of town."" The preliminary results
"indicated that the experiment had demonstrated the
technical feasibility of nuclear sfimulafion of gas in
the Rulison field. "'^

There were several noteworthy outcomes of the
Rulison project. First, Heyward never got any money
for letting the bomb go off beneath his potato-patch:
under the contract he signed, Heyward "got paid only
if the well made money for the energy companies."''^
Second, in 1974 through a citizen's initiative, Colo-
rado voters amended the state's constitution to require
any project to detonate a nuclear bomb in Colorado
"must first pass a statewide vote of the people.""' Third,
Dick Lamm credits Rulison with helping to "launch
the state's environmental movement along with his can-
didacy for governor."'^

The third nuclear stimulation project was Rio Blanco.
The project, detonated May 17, 1973, was located in
western Colorado in Rio Blanco County. Rio Blanco
differed from its predecessors because it used three 30-
kiloton nuclear devices stacked vertically and detonated
simultaneously. The objective of Rio Blanco was to

determine if detonating the nuclear devices would re-
sult in the three bombs creating one "rubble chimney,"
thus producing more natural gas. ' * Technically speak-
ing. Project Rio Blanco was a failure because "there
was no communication between the top and the lower
chimneys," defeating the purpose of the design."

The dynamics of the Rio Blanco polifical situafion
were dramatically different from Gasbuggy and
Rulison. The energy crisis had hit home in Colorado
during the preceding winter when "Denver public
schools were briefly forced to curtail the school week
because of (their) inability to heat school buildings."-"

Unlike Rulison, the strongest voices opposing Project
Rio Blanco came not from environmentalists, but from
industry. TOSCO (The Oil Shale Company) took cen-
ter stage with the argument that the project would "de-
stroy the opportunity to exploit overlying oil-shale for-
mations."-'

However in the end, local residents appeared to be in
favor of Rio Blanco. In fact, "a Rio Blanco county
commissioner expressed exasperation that some of
Colorado's elected representatives seemed to pay less
attention to the local area residents who favored the
project than to some 'so-called experts who live as far
away as Connecticut.'" Project Rio Blanco was deto-
nated because the resistance was muted — local resi-
dents favored the project and elsewhere the story got
"lost amid coverage of Watergate and other stories of
the day."--

JBM^ roject Wagon Wheel was to be Wyoming's
iWaM^ nuclear stimulation project, nestled in Sublette
[■J County, Wyoming. However, unlike its pre-
decessors Wagon Wheel was not detonated.

The county is located in southwestern Wyoming and
in 1970 had a population of 3,755. There were four

' ' Scott C. Yates, "The Day They Bombed Colorado." Westward,
(February 26, 1998), 23-24.

'- Ihid., 24.

'3 Ibid.

'•' Kreithand Wrenn, 106.

'5 Yates, 27.

" Ibid., 27.

" Ibid., 23.

'* Kreithand Wrenn, 125-126.

" Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
"Project Rio Blanco," {http://\vww.cdphe. state. co.us/lr/
enjiobl.htm). Site accessed March 24, 1998. 9:30 a.m. MST.

-"Kreithand Wrenn, 126.

-' Ibid., 137.

-- Yates, 27.

C'ummer

IQQS

towns between ten and twenty miles from the blast site
in Sublette Countv, Wvomine;:

Town Population

Pinedale 950

Big Piney 570

Town Population

Marbleton 220

Boulder 75

Wagon Wheel, had it been tested, would have deto-
nated five nuclear devices sequentially from bottom to
top between 9,220 feet and 1 1 ,570 feet below the sur-
face of Sublette County. The detonations would have
created an underground rubble chimney approximately
2,800 feet high and about 1 ,000 feet in diameter.-" The
five nuclear de\ices would have been 100 kilotons
each-"* and detonated approximately tlve minutes
apart.--' It was estimated by one geologist, William
Barbat, that "the nuclear energy to be released in the
stimulation of Wagon Wheel ... is about 35 times as
great as the energy of the gas which is expected to be
produced."-"

After the blast. El Paso would have waited between
four and six months to allow for the decay of "short-
lived radioisotopes" before test production of natural
gas. Even then, there would be some release of radia-
tion during the 325-day tlaring of the well. According
to the AEC, "the resulting total maximum radiation
dose which would be received by a local resident from
the production testing activity is found to be a small
fraction of the natural background radiation." The AEC
did not anticipate contamination of groundwater ei-
ther.-'

Had the test been successful in stimulating natural
gas, it would have been mild compared to what the
AEC planned when El Paso started full field produc-
tion. There could have been as many as forty to fifty
nuclear detonations a year, some within a mile of
Pinedale, Wyoming.-*' Dr. Ken Perry, a University of
Wyoming geologist and rancher, said the area could,
"become the earthquake center of the world" based upon
the AEC prediction.-'^

tmelhniemi H^mrf

In 1954, the El Paso Natural Gas Company (EPNG)
found a gas field between 7,500 and 10,700 feet below
the surface south of Pinedale in Sublette County.'" El
Paso drilled six wells and figured there were approxi-
mately four trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas
in the field. However, the natural gas was in low-per-
meability sandstone formations and the available tech-
nology to fracture the rock did not justify building a

pipeline to the field. ^' A worker at the original site
said, "You'll have to blow the hell out of the rock to
get the g- d- gas."-'- Another worker, an oil field con-
tractor, told Owen Frank, in the late 1950"s, "The onlv
way they'll get it out is to set off an atomic bomb down
there."'-' The nuclear stimulation concept for the
Pinedale unit was proposed to the AEC by El Paso in
1958.-"'

In 1 963 several government agencies agreed to a fea-
sibility study of nuclear stimulation. In December,
1967, Gasbuggy, the first nuclear stimulation project,
was detonated near Farmington. New Mexico. The re-
sults of the test explosion encouraged El Paso Natural
Gas to sign a contract a year later to study Wagon
Wheel.'" El Paso described Wagon Wheel as

...a joint effort between F.l Paso Natural Gas Company
and the Federal Go\emment of the United States of
America to further de\ elop the use of underground

-' "AEC Supports Nuclear Blast Near Pinedale." Casper Star
Tribune. February 1, 1972, 2. The article refers to the blast in the
past tense: "The blast was expected to result...." Perhaps the
author(s) of the article had a vision that it would never actually
occur.

-^ Each device would have been appro.xiniately tlve times as
powerful as the World War II atomic bombs. "AEC Says Plans
for -Wagon Wheel' OK.," Casper Star Tribune, April 1. 1972, 1 I.

-' Frank. "Dangers of Wagon Wheel," Casper Star Tribune,
May 10, 1972, 10.

-" Maekey. "Who's 'Plowed Under"!'" Casper Star Tribune,
June 25, 1972. 5.

-' "AEC Supports Nuclear Blast Near Pinedale." Casper Star
Tribune, February 1, 1972. 2.

-* Frank. "Dangers of Wagon Wheel." Casper Star Tribune,
Ntay 10, 1972,9.

-' Ibid.

-'" El Paso acquired its rights to the Pinedale Unit in 1954. the
same year they discovered the reserves. El Paso Natural Gas Com-
pany, Project Wagon Wheel Technical Studies Report, ii.

'' Frank. "'Only way to get it out,'" Casper Star Tribune, May
9, 1972,9.

-'- "Work force of 2.000 seen for Wagonwheel," Casper Star
Tribune, February 14. 1972, 9.

-" Frank, '"Only way to get it out,'" Casper Star Tribune, May
9, 1 972, 9. In 1 972 Owen Frank was the State Editor for the Casper
Star Tribune, but he does not specify what position he held in the
late 1950s, except that he refers to himself as "this writer." In
addition there is no evidence as to what position the oil field
engineer held and with what company.

" El Paso Natural Gas Company, Project Wagon Wheel Tech-
nical Studies Report, 1971, ii.

'■■' Frank, '"Only way to get it out,'" Casper Star Tribune, May
9, 1972, 9. Ironically, while "Gasbuggy" project encouraged El
Paso, a University of Colorado study of the second nuclear deto-
nation, "Rulison," decided it was an economic failure. The project
produced $1.4 million worth of natural gas, but cost $1 1 million.
"Rio Blanco Opposed," High Country News, March 16, 1973, 1 1.

Annals or Wyoming :The Wyoming History Journal

nuclear explosions to stimulate low permeability natu-
ral gas reservoirs. Cooperating on the project are El
Paso Natural Gas Company, the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC), and the U.S. Department of Inte-
rior as specified in Contract No. AT(26- 1 )-422 between
the United States of America and El Paso Natural Gas
Company, dated December 24, 1968.^^

It should be noted that there are conflicting dates as
to when the project was initially started. Some sources
suggest that the project started January 24, 1 968, when
"a detailed project definition was begun by El Paso,
the AEC, and the Department of the Interior to evalu-
ate the potential of nuclear stimulation techniques in
the Pinedale area.""

The same document reveals that on July 30, 1969,
the WASP (Wyoming Atomic Stimulation Project)
project was started. It was "composed of seven inde-
pendent oil companies, the U.S. Atomic Energy Com-
mission and the Department of the Interior (and) began
a detailed project definition of using nuclear explosions
in the Pinedale, Wyoming, area."^'

In any case. Wagon Wheel differed from Gasbuggy
because "its goals include obtaining cost information
as well as technical information." Gasbuggy's objec-
tives were to figure out the engineering, but not to be a
profitable investment.^'*

Initially, the project gained little publicity in Wyo-
ming. Apparently, the first article about Wagon Wheel
appeared in the Casper Star-Tribune, the only state-
wide newspaper in Wyoming, on February 1, 1972.'"'
The Wagon Wheel test was scheduled for 1 973'*' when
it was announced initially."*- As time passed, the date
for the test was postponed. On June 14, 1972, an ar-
ticle in the Casper Star Tribune noted that El Paso had
delayed the test until 1974.''^' A day later, a front-page
story in the Rock Springs newspaper confirmed the
delay. According to the article. El Paso had announced
Wagon Wheel would not be conducted in 1973, and
that 1974 might not be feasible. "•"*

Less than a month later. Dr. James Schlesinger, then
head of the AEC, predicted the test was at least five
years away — in 1977.'*^ In September, the AEC an-
nounced that "the project is still in the design stage and
no execution has been authorized as yet," and that the
test would probably not occur before fall 1974."** Con-
fusion continued; the project was planned for spring
1974 in October,"" while in December, it was "slated
to take place sometime in 1975."^"

The exact date Wagon Wheel died is also unclear.
President Nixon's budget for fiscal year 1974 did not
include funding for tests under Plowshare, which in-

cluded Wagon Wheel.^' By May 22, 1973, Wagon
Wheel had "been shelved at least temporarily because
of lack of ftinding."'" According to one source, Nixon's
director of the AEC, Dr. Dixy Lee Ray'' "announced
that Project Wagon Wheel was dead for the foresee-
able fiiture," but a search of the references cited failed
to turn up supporting evidence. '-

The test-well drilled for Wagon Wheel was never used
in a nuclear test but was employed by EPNG to con-
duct tests of "Massive Hydraulic Fracturing" (MHF)
during 1974 and 1975. MHF is a method where water
is pumped into a well until the pressure of the water
causes the rocks to fracture. The study used the well
originally drilled for Wagon Wheel," and concluded
the MHF "technique employed [was] not commercially
feasible."^"*

"■ El Paso Natural Gas Company, Project Wagon Wheel Tech-
nical Studies Report, 1971, ii.

" Whan. 1973. A-3.

^« Whan. 1973. A-4.

-" El Paso Natural Gas Company, Project Wagon Wheel Tech-
nical Studies Report, 1971, ii.

*" "AEC Supports Nuclear Blast Near Pinedale," Casper Star
Tribune, February 1, 1972, 2.

"" "AEC Supports Nuclear Blast Near Pinedale," Casper Star
Tribune, February 1, 1972, 2.

■*- One article suggests that EPNG wanted to fire the test in
1972, but was set back by a lack of funds. Frank "'Only way to
get it out,"' Casper Star Tribune, May 9, 1972, 9.

■*■' "Plowed under," {edhor\a\). Casper Star Tribune, June 14.
1972,4.

■'■' "No Wagon Wheel Blast Possible In '73: EPNG," Rock
Springs Daily Rocket-Miner, }une 15, 1972, 1.

■" "AEC chief says 1977 for Wagon Wheel test," Casper Star
Tribune, July 8, 1972, 7.

'"' "AEC estimates damage from Wagon Wheel," Casper Star
Tribune, September 22, 1972, 13.

" "Wagon Wheel gets new questions," Casper Star Tribune,
Octobers, 1972, 1.

■** "Each WW well gives tax return," Casper Star Tribune. De-
cember 2, 1972, 5.

'" ".AEC budget has no test funds," Casper Star Tribune, Janu-
ary 31, 1973. 11.

-" "Roncalio requests cutoff of gas stimulation money," Casper
Star Tribune, May 22, 1973, 11.

*' Dr. Dixy Lee Ray became chairman of the AEC shortly be-
fore the WWIC went to Washington.

-- Kreith, The Nuclear Impact, 168. The authors cite both the
Rocky Mountain News on May 1 2, 1 973 and the Denver Post on
May 22, 1973. Additionally, the Casper Star Tribune appears not
to have quoted Ray about Wagon Wheel during May 1973..

" El Paso Natural Gas Company, Pinedale Unit MHF Experi-
ments Final Report, 2.

''Ibid, 1.

z-ummer

199S

It's not really clear when the news about Wagon
Wheel was made known to the public. However, on
December 1, 1971, a letter was written to Wyoming
Governor Stanley K.. Hathaway referring to a Novem-
ber 8, 1971, Associated Press dispatch from Amchitka.
Alaska. According to the letter, the AEC "was plan-
ning or concei\ ing of nuclear blasts in Wyoming." The
author of the letter, whose identity was not revealed,
urged the governor to "fight against any AEC doings
in Wyoming."'' Hathaway responded December 10:

I am not aware of any planned
nuclear test blasts by the AEC
for Wyoming. I am confident
that if the .^EC plans such ac-
tion that it will take the neces-
sary precautions to protect the
health and safety of Wyoming
citizens and our en\ ironment.'"

In Pinedale, the Wagon Wheel
Information Committee (WWIC)
was formed by a group of local
residents, "to impartially gather all
pertinent information regarding
the Wagon Wheel Project."

If Hathaway had not known about Wagon Wheel
w hen he w rote the letter, he learned about it on Febru-
ary 1 , 1 972, the date the first article about Wagon Wheel
was published in the Casper Star Tribune/'

Six days later the Casper Star-Tribune published the
first editorial on the project. Titled, "Shaking Up Ecolo-
gists," the paper noted "we can anticipate at least some
munnurs of disapproval from conser\ ationists." The
editorial defended the project by noting "Similar nuclear
stimulations, like Gasbuggy and Rulison have failed
to shake up the Rockies — but there is always that
prospect of shaking up the ecologists." Ending on an
upbeat note, the paper hoped the "experiment will con-
tribute to relieving the future shortage of natural gas in
this country.""''*

Meanwhile, in Pinedale, the Wagon Wheel Informa-
tion Committee (WWIC) was formed by a group of
local residents, "to impartially gather all pertinent in-
formation regarding the Wagon Wheel Project.""" As a
result of their study, they opposed the nuclear stimula-
tion project.

Before arriving at that conclusion, the committee
members performed extensive work. They consulted
experts in various fields connected with petroleum ex-
ploration, geology, nuclear physics, and game and fish
biology. They read and analyzed data submitted by a
wide variety of organizations, including the Atomic
Energy Commission, Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory,
El Paso Natural Gas and others.

29
Information on both sides of the issue was made avail-
able to the people of Sublette County, through their
library system. The committee sponsored public meet-
ings, in order that the members might ha\ e the benetlt
of informed public opinion in reaching a conclusion.""
While the Casper Star Tribune continued its pro-
Wagon Wheel stance until May 1972, it was evident
the public, at least in Sublette County, did not agree
with the paper. When, in a later editorial, the Casper
Star Tribune stated "Emotional conservationists, as
usual, grabbed the scene at a meeting in Pinedale,"''
the paper received a heated letter from Phyllis Birr,"- a
member of the Wagon Wheel Information Committee.

Countering the paper's edito-
rial about the March 20 meet-
ing, Birr's letter contended that
the meeting, "was conducted on
an intelligent and organized ba-
sis." Birr added that the
newspaper's "attitude is one of
total ignorance of the situa-
tion.""'

It was not Birr's first letter to an editor about the
proposal. The previous month, she w rote to High Coun-
try News, an environmental newspaper then based in
Lander, Wyoming, commenting on an editorial by Tom
Bell, the paper's editor.""* Bell wrote that the planned
atomic de\ ices w ere "the sort of thing once dropped
on an alien people another world aw ay. Now it is being
dropped in our laps.""" Birr w rote to Bell telling about
the WWIC:

We have formed a committee ... with the sponsor-
ship of our County Commissioners. ..we urge all your
readers to write to their elected representatives to pro-

'■' Plumme, Tlie Wagon Wheel Contention, 1 .

■"" Plumme, The Wagon Wheel Contention, (printed in back of
book, about p. 198).

'■ "AEC Supports Nuclear Blast Near Pinedale," Casper Star
Tribune, February 1. 1972, 2.

'* "Shaking Up Ecologists," (editorial), Casper Star Tribune.
Februap. 7, 1972. 4.

"" Wagon Wheel Information Committee, Statement of Oppo-
sition to Project Wagon Wheel. (Pinedale, Wyoming: Wagon
Wheel Information Committee, n.d.. c. 1973). 2.

"" Ibid

"' "Welcome Wagon Wheel." Casper Star Tribune. March 25.
1972. 6.

"- Birr was also a journalist for the Pinedale Roundup, accord-
ing to Sally Mackey. Mackey. phone interview by author. 1995.

""' Birr. "Emotional Ecologist?" (letter to the editor). Casper
Star Tribune, April 4, 1972. 5.

"^ High Country News is now based in Paonia, Colorado.

"' Bell, "High Country," High Countiy News, March 17, 1972.

Annals of Wyoming ;The Wyoming History Journal

Gov. Stan Hathaway
(5th fi-om left) is shown
hosting the Western
Governors ' Conference
in Jackson in the
summer of 1971, six
months before the
Wagon H^eel issue
came to his attention.
At Hathaway 's right is
then-Gov. Ronald
Reagan of California.

test this rape of our Country. We feel that nuclear
detonation is not the only answer to retrieving this natu-
ral gas.""

Neither the AEC nor El Paso Natural Gas were rep-
resented at the initial meeting of the WWIC where more
than 500 people gathered to learn more about Wagon
Wheel. Floyd Bousman and Sally Mackey were co-
chairs. It was mentioned during the meeting the AEC
had admitted, "if Pinedale were more populated, the
gas stimulation would not be economically feasible."^'

Shortly after the meeting, a local insurance agency
used Wagon Wheel to their advantage. They placed an
ad with the word "Wagonwheel" in bold print at the
top: "THERE, WE'VE CAUGHT YOUR ATTEN-
TION. Why not drop in to discuss your insurance?"''*

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation and the Green
River Valley Cattlemen's Association called a meet-
ing for April 29, with AEC and El Paso representa-
tives. Reportedly, the meeting was well attended
("When the meeting got started. ..the gymnasium was
perhaps a little more than half full but people contin-
ued to come in."') It went on for five hours. *■' Phillip
Randolph, director of the El Paso Nuclear Group, (as
well as several others from the company and AEC),
assured residents there was "little potential danger."™

Perhaps nothing shook the public confidence more
than the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
issued in January 1 972. The draft EIS contained a pho-
tograph of the well site during the drilling of the well.
The document covered the background of Wagon

Wheel, probable environmental impact, "adverse en-
vironmental impact which cannot be avoided," as well
as alternatives and "environmental effects of contem-
plated future action."' ' The final EIS covered similar
ground and included 91 pages of public comments and
responses by the AEC.

Once the final EIS was released, few critics consid-
ered it complete or adequate." U.S. Senator Gale
McGee (D-Wyoming) decried the EIS, claiming it, "was
premature, failed to cover the overall impact, and failed
to comply with some criteria laid out for the prepara-
tion of such reports.""

Randolph agreed the EIS was premature as it "con-
tained language that was alarming to the layman. ...the

*" Birr, "Help on Wagon Wheel," (letter to the editor), High
Country News. March 31, 1972, 15.

•"' "Little Support for Nuclear Project at Pinedale," Casper Star
Tribune, March 23, 1972, 1. Selection of the chairs was noted in
"Bousman to be on 'Today Show'," Casper Star Tribune, Febru-
ary 6, 1973.

"* Plumme, The Wagon Wheel Contention, 117.

""Ibid., 118.

™ "Meeting Told Wagon Wheel Danger Slight," Rock Springs
Daily Rocket- Miner, May 2, 1972, I.

■' Atomic EnsvgyComm\ss\on, Draft Environmental Statement:
Wagon Wheel Gas Stimulation Project. 1972, i.

'- The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming
(ASUW) passed a resolution stating: "the AEC has not proved
conclusively that radiation levels following the test would be safe,
and alleged an AEC environmental impact study conducted on
the project was biased and partial." See "Students would delay
gas blast," Casper Star Tribune, May 18, 1972, 18.

'^ "McGee asks AEC revise evaluation," Casper Star Tribune,
August 23, 1972,27.

Summer 1998

report was satisfactory to technical persons working in
the field.'" ■* Whether or not Randolph was correct in
his assessment of the EIS, it was followed by an an-
nouncement by El Paso that, "independent experts from
Colorado State University are being engaged as a team
of consultants to expand the bio-environmental studies
already carried out."^^ However, the two experts, as
well as the earlier EISs\ were blasted in an article in
the Jackson Hole News:

El Paso is only now being forced to undertake com-
prehensive studies to indicate the possible effects of
their blast.

That would be fine, if the studies appeared a bit more
objective. Buried in this week's announcement we fmd
that Dr. Keith Schiager, a CSU radiation ecologist, is
to be on the investigating team. Sounds impressive
until you remember that Dr. Schiager was one of the
few scientists at a meeting held last spring at Big Piney
who spoke in fa\or of the Wagon Wheel project. Judg-
ing from this experience, can we expect Dr. Schiager
to be obiecli\e?

Unfortunately, Dr. Schiager doesn't appear to be as
much of a liability to the team as Dr. H. G. Fisser,
range management expert from the Uni\ ersity of Wyo-
ming. .According to the El Paso release, "Pre\ ious stud-
ies by Dr. Fisser and others ... have indicated that the
project Wagon Wheel detonations will not ha\e ob-
serxable effects upon the ecology and en\ironment of
the area."'"

This study was not the only one to surface after the
EIS was released. A report by professional biologists
from the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
said "the location of the site should be re-evaluated
with consideration for the possible 'adverse effects' it
might have on fish in nearby streams.""

In December 1972, the AEC announced that "infor-
mation for a scientific decision on Project Wagon Wheel
will not be available at least until late summer of 1 974."
AEC said it needed "continued scientific work in Wyo-
ming ... before [it] could consider whether to pro-
ceed."'^ The actions by EPNG and the AEC did not
appear to inspire confidence in the public.

El Paso and AEC also came under fire for their atti-
tude toward area bridges and irrigation systems.
Randolph said he "questioned whether it was the
company's social responsibility to retain an engineer-
ing firm for 'a quarter of a million dollars' when only
one or two ranchers use the bridge."''' According to
Randolph, four bridges were examined but.

Our big problem is — how do you be responsible?
What is a socially responsible position? Crossing a
bridge to that one man whose living is dependent on

crossing a river is damned important. Whether owner-
ship is by the public or a private indi\ idual. we will
seek a way to work with those people affected.*"'

Technical studies noted in the EIS estimated the ex-
pected damage to be approximately 365,000. includ-
ing significant damage to a highway bridge about 5.5
miles away."' In 1971, Dames and Moore, "a com-
pany nationally recognized for its competence in the
field of applied earth sciences," conducted a study "to
see if there would be an effect upon selected dams,
reservoirs, canals, streams, buildings and other surface
features as a result of an underground nuclear test."*-
However, the study had overlooked irrigation systems.

Floyd Bousman, local rancher who was co-chairman
of WWIC, lived ten miles away in Boulder, Wyoming.
Bousman claimed the test would "destroy concrete ir-
rigation structures on his ranch." Randolph said the
motion would be four feet at the well, "but only one-
eighth of an inch at Bousman's ranch.""'

Bousman, a commissioner of the Boulder Irrigation
District, also objected to the EIS valuation of the Boul-
der Dam at $ 1 50,000. The dam, built in 1 965, cost over
$280,000 to construct, with an estimated replacement
cost in 1 973 of $430,000.""' The original EIS and tech-
nical studies by El Paso seemed inadequate, even to
the company, as they saw fit to do additional study. In
July 1972, a group was formed to inspect "all dams
within 30 miles of the project location and all canals,
control gates and siphons within 15 miles."""

Dames and Moore returned during the summer of
1 972. For an unstated reason, perhaps because they had

'^ "No Wagon Wheel Blast Possible In '73: EPNG." Rock
Springs Daily Rocket-Miner, Sune 15, 1972, 1.

"' "Biology experts to study 'Wagon Wheel"," Casper Star Tri-
bune. August 15, 107:, 1 1,

'" "This Week's Offering!" High Country News, Sept. 29, 1972,
3.

" "Wagon Wheel gets new questions," Casper Star Tribune,
October 3, 1972. 1.

" "Wagon VV heel data is two years away," Casper Star Tri-
bune, December 17, 1972, 17.

""'Wagon Wheel' Blast Might Damage Bridges," Casper Star
Tribune. February 13, 1972, 2.

'" "Work force of 2,000 seen for Wagonwheel." Casper Star
Tribune, February 14, 1972, 9.

" Tom Bell, "Wagon Wheel — Mark of Progress," High Coun-
try News, March 31, 1972, 11.

'- "El Paso continues work on Wagon Wheel project," Casper
Star Tribune. July 14, 1972. 13.

*' Owen Frank, "Opinions Vary Widely On Wagon Wheel
Blast," Casper Star Tribune, May 2, 1972. 8.

*■" Statement of Opposition to Project Wagon Wheel. (Pinedale,
Wyoming: Wagon Wheel Information Committee, 1973), 11.

^- "Irrigation impact of blast checked," Casper Star Tribune,
July 27, 1972.

Teno Roncalio served as Wyoming 's only U. S. Repre-
sentative from 1965-67 and 1971-79. A critic of nuclear
stimulation, he was responsible for stopping funding for
Project Wagon Wheel in Congress in 1973.

omitted irrigation systems, their earlier study was not
adequate. They were asiced to do a "more detailed
study," taking into account comments from the AEC,
county residents, and various federal and state agen-
cies personnel.*^ Bousman wrote to the Star Tribune:

I am writing in regard to the recent press release by
EPNG in which they list the dams, etc., which they are
now going to study in conjunction with Dames and
Moore, for possible damage from the Wagon Wheel
Project.

I wonder how many people realize that these are all
things that EPNG and the AEC, in their environmental
statements said had already been done, when in fact
they had not been done.

Is it any wonder there is such a large credibility gap?*'

WWIC continued opposition to the test throughout
the fall. The organization conducted a "straw poll"
during the 1972 general election. Although the vote
had "no legal effect on the future of the planned nuclear
detonations," the results indicated the strength of the
opposition to Wagon Wheel.''*' Of the 1 ,670 people who
voted in the general election, 1 ,230 chose to express an
opinion about Wagon Wheel. "873 said they opposed
Wagon Wheel, while 262 said they favored continua-

Annals or Wyoming:The Wyoming Histoiy lourna!

tion of the project. Ninety-five individuals had no opin-
ion."*'

WWIC members, concerned that the straw poll re-
sults would be questioned, had the county sheriffs
department collect the ballots. Two ministers counted
them. U. S. Representative Teno Roncalio (D-Wyo-
ming) said it appeared that El Paso would "not live up
to promises that it wouldn't cram Wagon Wheel down
the throats of Sublette County residents."**"

Pinedale resident Mildred Delgado wrote to the
Casper newspaper, claiining that if one were to add the
501 people who did not vote, the 95 who were unde-
cided and the 262 who voted in favor of Wagon Wheel,
they would comprise 49.6 percent. Those who voted
against made up just 50.4 percent. She pointed out that
WWlC's choice for U. S. Congress, Teno Roncalio,
had lost Sublette County to his Republican challenger,
Bill Kidd, by a vote of 900-761."'

WWIC inember Phyllis Birr responded quickly to
the Delgado claim. "Since when do people who do not
vote automatically register as a vote 'for' something?"
she asked in her letter to the editor.''-

In December, officers of the WWIC sent a letter to
El Paso officials, the AEC and members of the state's
congressional delegation, requesting a meeting. The
groups decided to meet in the Washington offices of
U. S. Senator Clifford P. Hansen (R-Wyoming), in Feb-
ruary, 1973. Birr, Bousman, and other WWIC mem-
bers arrived in Washington on February 4. Cong.
Roncalio had arranged for them to meet with represen-
tatives of the Environmental Protection Agency the next
day, in addition to meeting with the AEC and El Paso
representatives on February 7. Bousman also appeared
on NBC's "Today" show to help publicize the opposi-
tion to Wagon Wheel."^

'" "El Paso continues work on Wagon Wheel project," Casper
Star Tribune, July 14. 1972, 13.

*' Bousman, "Credibility gap?" (letter to the editor), Casper Star
Tribune, August 3, 1972, 5.

*' "Take straw vote on Wagon Wheel," Casper Star Tribune,
November 7, 1972, 11.

'^ "Straw vote opposes Wagon Wheel," Casper Star Tribune,
November 9, 1972, 17.

'" "Teno chides El Paso on 'promises,'" Casper Star Tribune,
December 7, 1972, 17.

" Delgado, "More 'realistic' account," (letter to the editor),
Casper Star Tribune, Dec. 18, 1972, 3. The official count shows
Delgado figures were slightly in error— the total was 900-766.

''- Birr, "Gross errors claimed," (letter to the editor), Casper
Star Tribune, Dec. 22, 1 972, 6. One other person wrote to refute
Delgado's comments.

'' "AEC meeting is scheduled," Casper Star Tribune, January
9, 1973, 9; "EPA- Wagon Wheel meeting Feb. 5," Casper Star
Tribune, January 31,1 973, 1 1 ; "Bousman to be on 'Today' show,"
Casper Star Tribune, February 6, 1973, 9.

Summer l^^Q^

Even before the meeting, an AEC "official promised
Wyoming citizens. ..he will ask the AEC head to con-
sider making Project Wagon Wheel dependent on a
citizen's referendum."""' It turned out that Roncalio
was a step ahead of the committee, pressing for change
within the AEC.

While the exact date of Wagon Wheel's death is
murky, the direct cause appears clear. Roncalio, a
staunch opponent of Wagon Wheel, had tried unsuc-
cessfully throughout the summer to cut funding from
the AEC budget for the project. In January, 1973, the
congressman was appointed by House Speaker Carl
Albert to the .loint Committee on Atomic Energy. "1
sought this post to give Wyoming a voice in atomic
energy developments, ranging from the proposed
Project Wagon Wheel....," Roncalio said.'^"

Less than a week after his appointment to the com-
mittee Roncalio announced that the AEC budget for
Plowshare programs did not "include funds for any test
events in tlscal 1974." On the Senate side, Hansen
pointed out that Nixon's budget "delayed Wagon Wheel
until late 1977~at the earliest." He added that even if
funds were restored by Congress for the fiscal year 1 974
budget, it was "rather apparent that the Office of Man-
agement and Budget (0MB) would impound those
funds also."""

Roncalio claimed that the more study made of Plow-
share, the sooner it v\as going to end:

It appears to me that the more we study the entire
Plowshare Program, the more it is doomed.. ..I say that
is because previous attempts at this type method ha\e
not been commercial.'"

In mid-May, 1973, Roncalio requested elimination
of the $3.8 million for nuclear stimulation from the
AEC budget.

The shaft drilled for the testing was used to test "mas-
sive hydraulic fracturing." Nuclear devices, however,
were never used at the site of Project Wagon Wheel.

Wagon Wheel could be considered a case study of
how people from outside of Wyoming have wanted to
exploit the state for their ends and how local groups,
such as the WWIC, can successfully oppose such ac-
tions. El Paso, as early as 1958, asked the AEC for
assistance in extracting natural gas out of low-pemie-
ability sandstone fonnations near Pinedale, but con-
tracts and publicity were not publicall_\ known for at
least 1 1 years.

The threat of five nuclear detonations threw fear into
a small community, inciting a group of ranchers and
ecologists to join on a quest to stop the test of nuclear
stimulation. Wagon Wheel was halted. The sword was
not be a plowshare. It remained an unwanted imple-
ment of w ar.

"^ "Wagon Wheel vote to he considered." Casper Slar Tribune,
February 6, 1973. 1.

"" "Roncalio loses fight to stop Wagon Wheel," Casper Star
Tribune, June 10, 1972, 10; "Teno joins group on atomic energy,"
Casper Star Tribune. January 27, 1973, 12.

* "AEC budget has no test funds," Casper Star Tribune. Janu-
ary 31. 1973. 11; "Nixon budget delays Wagon Wheel plans."
Casper Star Tribune. February 3. 1973. 7. The second article re-
ferred to $2.7 million that had been impounded from Plowshare
in fiscal year 1973. Impoundment is a procedure where the presi-
dent directs funds appropriated by Congress not be spent. Such
actions are for savings, not program elimination.

■*' "AEC budget has no test funds." 1 1 .

■** "Roncalio requests cutoff of gas stimulation money," Casper
Star Tribune, May 22, 1973, 11.

"" "AEC may drop Wagon Wheel," Casper Star Tribune. Feb-
ruary 9, 1973, 1 1; Bousman, telephone interview by author. De-
cember 12. 1995.

Despite years of research, including Projects
Gasbuggy and Rulison, this technology has not pro-
duced one cubic foot of salable natural gas. ..the AEC
should terminate this program and direct its attention
to far more pressing needs in reactor programs."*

Wagon Wheel already had been delayed by cuts in
funding. Now, the entire concept of nuclear stimula-
tion was about to be shelved. WWIC had succeeded in
its goal. Wagon Wheel had been halted.

Even if it had not been stopped by Roncalio, Bousman
believed the project would not have continued because
the public opposition was too great. "The people were
willing to organize a county-wide or even statewide
referendum and devote ourselves all our lives, if need
be, to end this thina," Bousman said.""

Adam Lederer holds the B. A. and M. A. in
political science from the University of Wyo-
ming. This article is derived from his master 's
thesis on Project Wagon Wheel. In 1996. he
served as an editorial intern for Annals of
Wyoming. Currently a student in the doctoral
program in public affairs in the School of
Public and Envirofunental Affairs at Indiana
Universitw Lederer is a native of Colorado.

The Quest for
Public Television

By Phil Roberts

In Wyoming, with the smallest population of any state
and a tradition of individualism, one person can have
a greater impact on change than in most other states.
While the absence of entrenched special interests and a
general acceptance of change were factors, it was the in-
fluence of specific individuals who caused Wyoming to
pioneer women's suffrage, claim state ownership of water
resources, and institute creative severance taxes. ' And there
are the cases where Wyoming is last among the states to
institute change, often because no advocate champions the
idea. Rarely has it been both ways. One such case was in
the matter of public television.

Around the United States, not one public television sta-
tion was broadcasting in September, 1 95 1 , when Univer-
sity of Wyoming President George ("Duke") Humphrey
initiated the filing for the first public television station in
Wyoming.- At the time, no television station of any kind
operated in Wyoming and it would be an entire year be-
fore reception of any television signal was made in the
state.^ An entire range of obstacles, some legal and politi-
cal and others financial and philosophical, blocked his ef-
forts and it wasn't until 1982, 18 years after Humphrey's
retirement as UW president that public television finally
came to Wyoming — not from a station in Laramie, but
one in Riverton.

The story of Humphrey's efforts demonsfrates another
oft-stated truth about Wyoming — it seems that with some
innovations, there is a "50-year lag."'' In a lightly popu-
lated state with minimal state government bureaucracy,
affecting change should be relatively rapid. Nonetheless,
as the story of public television points out, sectional rival-
ries, absence of private funding support, conflicts of inter-

est, and no particular reverence for higher education, struck
out at innovation. The university, attempting to fulfill its
education mission for the entire state, often met with ac-
tive opposition and apathy.' The quest for public televi-
sion became ensnared in these tangles of politics.

' Actually, three individuals receive much of the credit for women
suffrage: Territorial Gov. John A. Campbell, Territorial Secretary
Edward M. Lee, and William Bright, the South Pass legislator who
introduced the suffrage bill in the first territorial legislature. Dr. Elwood
Mead strongly influenced Wyoming's water law. The 1966 guberna-
torial candidate Ernest W'ilkerson made the severance ta.\ a center-
piece in his campaign. Later, the man who defeated him in that elec-
tion, Stan Hathaway, influenced passage of the first severance tax in
Wyoming.

- The first noncommercial educational television station was K.LIHT,
Channel 8, Houston, Te.xas, which began broadcasting on May 12,
1953, with test patterns and with programming on May 25. Only two
such stations were on the air by the end of 1953; eight more began
broadcasting in 1954; and five more opened in 1955. James Day, The
Vanishing Vision: The Inside Stoiy of PubUc Television. (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1995), 35-36; Joseph Nathan Kane,
Famous First Facts. (New York: H. W. Wilson, 1981), 659. It would
not have been unprecedented for a non-profit broadcasting outlet to
be the first in Wyoming. The first radio station in Wyoming, KFA
Laramie, was a non-profit operation underwritten by Mrs. E. H.
Harriman and the Episcopal Church. See Howard Lee Wilson, "Top
of the World Broadcasts: Wyoming's Early Radio," Annals of Wyo-
ming A?, (Spring, 1971), 5-52.

' The first television programs viewed in Wyoming were broadcast
from Denver on July 18, 1952, by KWGN, Channel 2. The first com-
mercial station in the state, KFBC-TV Cheyenne, went on the air
March 21, 1954.

' Maurice F. Griffith to Dean John Marvel, Nov. 7, 1962, Box 178,
Television file, UW Archives.

' On the other hand, UW feared any rival. One of the earliest
efforts for another four-year college in the state occurred in the 1890s
when Lander tried for the "agricultural college." See Roberts, Wyo-
ming Almanac. (Laramie: Skyline West, 1997), 415.

Summer 1Q9S

In early 1951, the Federal Communications Commis-
sion announced that it would propose to reserve television
channels for 209 non-commercial educational stations in
certain cities throughout the United States.^ The commis-
sion designated only one such channel for Wyoming —
VHF Channel 8 in Laramie.' In many respects, the desig-
nation seemed fortuitous for public television. In many
major markets, the FCC designated less desirable UHF
channels for educational broadcasting, allowing commer-
cial interests to snap up the better UHF locations. At the
same time, the FCC set aside commercial channels na-
tionwide. Twenty allotments were made to Wyoming, five
on the VHF band and 15 on UHF. One of the commercial
assignments, UHF channel 1 8, was designated for Laramie.

In the beginning, the FCC split narrowly on the issue of
whether to even authorize educational channels. Only four
of the seven commissioners favored such reservations.
Commission chairman Wayne Coy, skeptical that non-
commercial channels would be utilized, said he would be
looking for a clear and immediate response on the part of
educational institutions showing that they intended to use
television for educational purposes.'^

U W President Humphrey acted swiftly, filing comments
before the commission, pointing out that the UW would
utilize Channel 8, but it "cannot file an application for the
construction of a television station until it has received
legislative authority to do so." Since the Wyoming legis-
lature met in biennial sessions, such action could not be
expected until the 1953 session. "It is impossible to give
definite assurance to the Commission that the channel re-
served for Laramie. Wyoming, will be used by the Uni-
versity.'"^

Commercial assault on public television began almost
immediately. It was generally agreed that the UHF chan-
nels, 2-13, had greater value than VHF. Consequently, on
May 7, 1 95 1 , Warren M. Mallory filed a counter proposal
with the FCC on behalf of himself and a group of Chey-
enne and Laramie businessmen, asking that Channel 8 be
released for commercial use and Channel 1 8 become the
educational station.'"

Mallory's group withdrew their request a month later,
but by filing the counter proposal, the group kept in play
their request to withdraw Channel 1 8 and substitute a lower
channel, either 3 or 5."

Later in the summer of 1951, Humphrey engaged engi-
neer Mallory to draft a plan for the UW non-commercial
station. Mallory recommended a 2,000-watt transmitter
with the signal broadcast from a 500-foot-high tower
erected on the university campus.'- Humphrey asked a
trustee subcommittee to endorse the proposal, but at least
two trustees were uncomfortable about acting without the
entire board. '^

Part of their concern had to do with what was shown in
Mallory's coverage map appended to the report. Depend-
ing on the tower location, the transmitted signal would
range from some ten miles from Laramie to a maximum
of less than 50 miles at the most favorable distance. Rock
River and Centennial were at the outer edges of the more
powerful broadcast range. The signal would not reach
Cheyenne (blocked by the Laramie Range) and even Medi-
cine Bow would be beyond range. "1 do not believe the
executive committee should bind the entire board in a
matter involving so great an expenditure when apparentlv
results north of the Union Pacific for years to follow would
be limited," wrote trustee John A. Reed, Kemmerer.'""
Nonetheless, the board did pass a resolution asking the
FCC to assign Channel 8 to the university.''

The university report tried to counter the concerns from
potential competing commercial operators about program-
ming contents. The Humphrey-commissioned report
stated:

The university hopes to broadcast three types of pro-
grams: 1 . Strictly educational programs, i.e.. courses for
which college credit is given; 2. Educational-cultural pro-
grams, such as music, drama. Iiterauire, art, science, and
social science; 3. Music and drama programs solely as
entertainment. [.An estimated] 80-90 percent of the tele\i-
sion programs which would be originated by the Uni\ er-
sity would be stnctly educational or educational-cultural."'"

To allay trustee concerns that the station would serve
only Laramie, the report stated:

" For complete accounts of the origins of public television nation-
alK. see John Walker Powell, Channels of Learning: The Stoiy of
Educational Television. (Washington: Public Affairs Press. I')62);
Robert Blakely, To Serve the Public Interest Educational Broad-
casting in the United States. (Syracuse: Syracuse L'niversity Press,
1979); and Day. The Vanishing Vision.

' "Outline for Committee on Television. University of Wyoming,"
in Box 129, President's Files, University Archives.

" Day. 3 1 .

" "Outline for Committee on Television." ibid.

'" Cited in "Outline...."

" "Outline...."

'- Mallory affidavit. "Engineering Statement." in "Sworn State-
ment of the University of Wyoming, Pursuant to FCC Order of Hear-
ing Procedure," FCC Docket Nos. 8736, 8975, 9175. 8976. Sept. 21,
1951, in Box 129.

'- University Archives; President's Files. Box 129, Telegram to
John A. Reed, Kemmerer. and H. D. Del Monte, Lander. Sept. 20.
1951

'•" The map is in Warren Mallory. "Sworn Statement to the FCC."
filed Sept. 21, 1951, p. 25. Box 129, President's files. University
Archives. Reed's telegram response to Humphrey is in "Television,"
Box 129. University Archives.

'* Tnistee's Minutes, Book X (1951), 1751.

" "Sworn Statement...", 3.

Annals oi Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

Some of the proposed programs would be presented as
live broadcasts, some as closed circuit broadcasts to class
rooms upon the Campus, and some would be recorded on
tilm for tele\ision release by other stations throughout the
State. Thus a station of the University would become a
part of the educational establishment of the State."

Humphrey, anxious to see that the university become
involved in television of some sort, wrote to a local radio
broadcaster on Aug. 30, 1951. He inquired whether the
radio operator would like to enter into a cooperative tele-
vision venture. '** The record contains no response; appar-
ently, the radio owner had no interest.

The university's television committee met sporadically
through 1951 and into 1952. Humphrey, anxious to have a
funding request ready for the 1 953 legislative session, wrote
to the director of the American Council on Education in
June 1952: "1 read the statements about the Joint Commit-
tee on Educational Television," Humphrey wrote. "We are
making a careful study of the advisability of establishing
television facilities at the University of Wyoming. 1 should
like to have the information available on the work of the
Committee."''^

Humphrey recognized how profitable tie-ins with uni-
versities could be for commercial television stations, par-
ticularly in regard to intercollegiate sports. At the end of
the year, Humphrey received a letter from Keeton Amett,
an official of Dumont Laboratories, complaining about the
NCAA policy of restricting football broadcasts to the sta-
tion offering the best deal. "It is not possible for us to
arrive at a conclusion other than that extremely bad judg-
ment has been used by the NCAA television committee,
with the result that, not only the game of football, but the
cause of education is suffering."-"

Humphrey wrote back a stinging reply taking issue with
all of Amett's statements. "If unrestricted televising of
football games is permitted," Humphrey wrote, "within
five years we will not have more than twenty-five or thirty
teams in the United States. Such a practice would make
strong teams stronger and weak teams weaker."

Humphrey knew he needed extensive engineering re-
ports in order to make a strong case to the 1953 legisla-
ture. Consequently, the board of trustees gave him approval
to hire an out-of-state engineering firm, Lutz and May,
Consulting Engineers, of Kansas City. Bids for the engi-
neering study also had been submitted by Mallory and from
Cheyenne engineer William Grove. Grove was associated
with KFBC Radio in Cheyenne, owned by Frontier Broad-
casting Company, a firm in which university trustee Tracy
McCraken held a majority stake.-'

Just as the 1953 legislative session was opening, Lutz
and May delivered the report. The results indicated that

r /

c
X

V ^^^H

w^^r^^m

George "Duke" Humphrey

television might not be as "affordable" as the Mallory re-
port Uvo years earlier had indicated. The firm pointed out,
however, that "the cost of an educational television station
represents an investment in the friture of Wyoming which
we can ill afford to forego and, perhaps, lose forever."

Apparently to avoid the criticism that the station would
serve only Laramie, the Lutz and May plan shows a con-
siderably expanded broadcast range. Their plan called for
a 100-kilowatt transmitter with sufficient range to reach
Cheyenne and almost to Fort Collins to the south and
Wheatland to the northeast. Instead of a 500-foot tower
and transmitter being placed on campus, Ltitz and May
recommended a site on Pilot Hill, east of Laramie, with a
shorter 1 00-foot tower. The on-campus studio would be
connected to it by microwave relay. --

The plan included an extensive equipment list and floor
plan for a two-story studio building containing state-of-
the-art studios, offices and production rooms. Initial cost
estimates were sobering: from $362,582 to 638,022 and
an annual operating cost estimated from $129,800 to
$ 1 39,800.-" Apparently unfamiliar with the traditional par-
simony of the Wyoming legislature, the firm pointed out

'^ Ibid.

'* Humphrey to Richard Connor, KOWB Radio, Aug. 30, 1951,
Bo.\ 129, President's Files.

'" Humphrey to Dr. Arthur S. Adams, June 27, 1952, "Television"
file, Box 129, President's Files. For the activities of the committee,
later the council, see Day, chap. 2.

-" Keeton Amett to Humphrey, Dec. 30, 1952, in "Television" file,
Box 133, President's Files.

-' Trustee's Minutes, Box XI (1952), 38, 52, Gove later was named
general manager of KFBC-TV in Cheyenne.

-- Report, Lutz and May, Consulting Engineers, Kansas City, Jan.
27, 1953, "Television" file. Box 133, President's Files.

-^ Ibid

Summer 1998

that the costs compared favorably to stations already in
the planning stages at Kansas State University, the Uni-
versity of Nebraska and other large Midwest institutions.

The one comparison to a commercial station, however,
caused legislators to question the huge outlays. According
to Lutz and May, KFBC-TV, the new station about to open
in Cheyenne by Frontier Broadcasting, a firm controlled
by UW Trustee Tracy McCraken. spent Just $238,600 for
the 5.22 kilowatt channel 5 station and the firm estimated
an annual operating cost of less than $1 00,000. -■*

Any hope for an appropriation died. Nonetheless, opti-
mistic that the legislature would be more favorable tvvo
years later, Humphrey had to be satisfied with the Senate
Enrolled Joint Memorial urging the FCC to continue to
reserve Channel 8 for the University of Wyoming for an-
other two years.-' When Humphrey sent a copy of the reso-
lution to Paul A. Walker, the new chair of the FCC, and
asked him to extend the deadline for application to July 1 ,
1955, Walker replied: "1 would very much hope and re-
spectfully urge that the State of Wyoming not delay appli-
cation for an educational television station in Wyoming
for such an extended period. The pressures for the use of
this channel for commercial purposes will be so strong
that I very much fear that the State would find it more
difficult two years from now to proceed with an educa-
tional station than at the present time."-"

Alarmed by Walker's letter. Humphrey wrote to each
member of the Wyoming congressional delegation urging
that they contact Walker and argue the university's case.
U. S. Representative William Henry Harrison's response
was typical. He promised to contact Walker and added, "\
hope you will be successful with Channel 8."-'

Curiously, Humphrey, who had enjoyed considerable
success in raising funds from private sources, did not seek
television funding in that manner. KUHT. Houston, the
first public TV station in the nation, benefited from the
generosity of oil millionaire Hugh Roy Cullen. and the
construction costs of the second station to open, KTHE

-■• Ibid

■- Senate Enrolled Joint Memorial #12 of the 32d legislature, intro-
duced by State Senators David N. Hitchcock (D-Alhany) and R. L.
Greene (R-Johnson). Feb. 16. 1953. and approved Feb. 25. 1953.
If'yoming Session Loms (1953). 246. 289-290. For tnistee action on
the request, see Trustee's Minutes. Book XI (1953). proceedings for
February 27.

■'" Humphrey to Walker (containing a copy of the Senate memo-
rial). March 13. 1953. Box 133. President's Files; Walker to
Humphrey. March 17. 1953. Box 133. President's Files. IIW Archives.

-' Harrison to Humphrey, March 19. 1953. Box 133. President's
Files. See also Sen. Lester Hunt to Humphrey. March 23. 1953; and
Sen. Frank A. Barrett to Humphrey. March 26. 1953. with similar
assurances and comments. Box 133. President's files. UW archives.

iW Board of Trustees at the time of President Humphrey 's initial request for public television. 1951.

Annals of Wyoming: Tlie Wyoming History Journal

Los Angeles, also was underwritten by an oilman.-^ These
earliest sponsoring institutions though the sponsoring in-
stitutions, the University of Houston and the University of
Southern California, showed that private funding was pos-
sible. Nonetheless, just as in other cases in Wyoming his-
tory, Humphrey relied on the legislature.-'^

Nationally, the Joint Committee on Educational Televi-
sion was advocating closer ties between educational insti-
tutions and commercial broadcasters. "Many school sys-
tems and colleges find it expedient, pending the construc-
tion of television stations designed exclusively for non-
commercial educational telecasting, to seek and accept
cooperative arrangements with commercial television
broadcasters in their area in order to help the commercial
broadcaster serve his public interest requirements and in
order to pemiit the educator to expand the area and influ-
ence of the educational institution and to learn television
skills," the committee wrote. The committee emphasized,
however, that such arrangements "in no way constitute a
satisfactory alternative to the operation of a non-commer-
cial educational television station by an educational insti-
tution because of the essentially different objectives of the
commercial broadcasters fonn those of the educators."^"
UW was to learn how divergent its objectives were when
Humphrey initiated a deal with a Cheyenne station.

KFBC-TV in Cheyenne, went on the air March 21,1 954.
It was the first TV station in the state of Wyoming. Hope-
flil that the 1955 legislature would act, Humphrey was
nonetheless anxious for the university to begin working in
television. Consequently, on Aug. 23, 1954, UW entered
into a deal with Educational Television and Radio Center
in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a series of educational television
productions that would be run on a trial basis by KFBC-
TV Cheyenne."' The Michigan firm had advocated the tie-
in with the commercial station: "Educational institutions
may contract with commercial television stations for use
of time providing there is no sponsor. Affiliated stations
pay SI, 000 per year for five programs each week...." the
firm's literature pointed out. To reimburse KFBC who
was barred fi"om selling advertising to pay for the series,
Humphrey agreed to write to bankers in the Channel 5
viewing area, urging them to underwrite the weekly half-
hour programs as a "public service."^- Apparently at
Humphrey's request, a secretar\' contacted the director of
the Michigan production firm and reported back to the
UW president that: "The first one [series]. ..was something
about government that I didn't quite catch. He said he did
not think there was anything in it to offend the bankers,"
she memoed Humphrey.-''

In mid-September, KFBC-TV announced that the ten-
part program called "Great Plains Trilogy" would be broad-
cast each Sunday afternoon from 3-3:30 p.m., as an edu-

cational program from the University of Wyoming. Sta-
tion owner and UW Trustee Tracy McCraken wrote
Humphrey asking how he wished to introduce the series.^''

The arrangement turned out to be a disappointment and
when the educational film service sought payment for films
that had been shipped beyond the initially committed ten-
week series, Humphrey replied, noting that the University
never wished to renew beyond the trial period. "Inciden-
tally," Humphrey wrote bitterly, "I talked with the presi-
dent of KFBC-TV [McCraken] yesterday and he said that
the programs were not well received. I myself received
only one letter about the programs," he wrote, adding, "I
should be glad to have your reaction to this situation."^^

Dr. H. K. Newbum replied with criticism of his own.
"We have had varying comments from the stations that
have been operating under this plan," he wrote, pointing
out that in nearly every case, the comments had been fa-
vorable. "I must say, however, that I believe your institu-
tion has given a good deal more responsibility for the op-
eration of the program to the commercial station in Chey-
enne than is usually the case." Newbum pointed to Ne-
braska, Iowa and New Mexico where commercial broad-
casters were not given control over the educational broad-
casts. "They have attempted to integrate the program very
closely with university activities and thus have had a dif-
ferent setting relative to public relations and educational
impact," he concluded.'" With cancellafion of the film se-
ries, the UW's weekly half-hour arrangement with KFBC-
TV came to an end.

While the Wyoming plan remained stalled throughout
the rest of the decade, public stations opened in neighbor-
ing states. University control, however, turned out not to
be the pattern. On Jan. 30, 1956, after four years of plan-

'' Day, 36-37.

-" Wyomingites do not simply rely on the legislature in questions
of funding. There is a tendency to look to the legislature as a "cure"
for many economic problems that may be better solved through non-
govemnient means. This trait was discussed extensively by members
of the Wyoming Public Policy Forum during deliberations in Laramie
in 1993-94 in which this writer had the opportunity to participate.

■"• "Outline for Committee on Television, University of Wyoming,"
in "Television" file. Box 133

" The Michigan firm would furnish materials to UW at $1 per
minute for half-hour shows. The university would be given seven
program choices.

-'- Copies of the letters and the mailing list are in "Television" file
#106, Box 140, President's Files, University Archives.

" Undated memo. Box 140, President's Files.

^■' Humphrey to Tracy McCraken, Oct. 4, 1954, Box 140, President's
Files.

" Humphrey to Dr. H. K. Newburn, Educational Television and
Radio Center, Ann Arbor, Feb. 10, 1955, "Television" file. Box 140,
President's files.

'" Newburn to Humphrey, undated letter, "Television" file. Box
140, President's Files.

rummer

1Q9S

ning, KRMA-TV in Denver began operation under a li-
cense granted to Denver Public Schools. Organized by a
consortium of about 125 cultural and educational organi-
zations, the governing control evolved into a council of 26
area groups. Five years after its opening, the station's bud-
get amounted to $194,000. all but $89,000 paid by the
school district. '

Wyoming, on the verge of pioneering public television,
now found itself lagging most neighboring states. None-
theless, Humphrey persisted. In 1 96 1 , Humphrey appointed
a University Television Committee, to be chaired by John
Manel, Dean of the College of Education, to explore avail-
able options, but also to counter Scottsbluff businessman
Terry Carpenter's request to designate Channel 8 for a
commercial station in Scottsbluff Nebraska. Even though
Carpenter later withdrew his FCC request, Nebraska Pub-
lic Television was expanding statewide through tlve new
outlets, including one in the Nebraska Panhandle capable
to broadcasting into parts of eastern Wyoming.

Humphrey also was recei\ ing pressures to support ex-
pansion of the Denver public station into Wyoming. When
the UW president asked Denver electronics consultant Karl
0. Krummel to provide an estimate of how the State of
Wyoming could distribute public television \'ia cable sys-
tems statewide, the answer was not one Humphrey wanted
to hear. """KRMA, the Educational TV station of the Den-
ver School Board is now broadcasting on a regular sched-
ule of approximately eight to ten hours per da\ and has
excellent programming for your purpose,"' Kmmmel wrote.
"It would seem natural for the State to utilize this signal
rather than construct your own station and be faced w ith
large operating costs associated w ith production and broad-
casting."-"

In early 1962. the University Television committee re-
ported to Humphrey that a statew ide committee should be
fonned consisting of "key personnel from the University,
the State Department of Education, the Educational Me-
dia Council, the Wyoming Education Association, the
Community College Commission, and the North Central
Committee.""'^ The UW committee's other recommenda-
tions were equally timid, recommending "further study"
of the costs and preparation of a suney in order to submit
a grant request from the U. S. Department of Health. Edu-
cation and Welfare. The university committee also echoed
Krummel" s suggestion, recommending "that some type
of control agreement may be made with the Educational
Television Station in Denver, Colorado, to provide the bulk
of initial programming for Wyoming residents."'"'

More than a decade had passed since Humphrey's ini-
tial proposal, but few results except requests for more study
had occurred. Marvel reported receiving newsletters from
educational television committees in several states and a

conversation he had with a Newcastle broadcaster who
had conducted a statewide ETV sur\e\ . "1 would hope
that the ETV Committee might request the establishment
of a state ETV commission in Wyoming w hich could ser\ e
as the official state agency endorsed by the legislature and
the Governor. It would seem to me that commission status
would gain more recognition and would be in a better po-
sition to secure and administer funds, assign responsibili-
ties, and coordinate state-w ide programs." Man. el wrote. ^'

Getting Wyoming school districts involved in such an
enterprise by establishing a statewide committee seemed
just as difficult. Humphrey and the trustees authorized Mar-
vel to solicit support from educators. "1 wish we could
generate more interest in ETV in Wyoming, but the 50-
>ear lag ma>' be working." replied Maurice F. Griffith,
superintendent of Natrona County School District No. 2.
in late 1962. Griffith was skeptical about the committee's
prospects. "I have talked about the possibilities to several
school men but there is little interest. .A committee may be
of little \ alue until some of our school people begin to
have some curiosity about the medium." he concluded.""-

Three weeks after he was sw om in as governor, former
trustee Clifford P. Hansen recei\ed a letter from Humphrey
urging appointment of a statewide ETV committee. He
also passed on the UW Television Committee's sugges-
tion that the governor initiate the meetings for the new
group "because it would create more interest than if the
University originated the meeting." Humphre\ wrote.
Recognizing the political realities, the president and the
uni\ersit\ w ere distancing themselves from promoting the
idea of public television. The initiative would have to
come from elsewhere.

Humphrey retired as U W president in 1 964 and the lead-
ership for public television soon passed to Maurice Griffith,
superintendent of schools in Natrona Counts, who began
a fiTJStrating seven-year crusade to bring public TV to W\o-
ming. Despite his earlier skepticism about educators and
their desires for supporting public TV. he called a meeting
for .lanuaPv 10.1964. in\iting many administrators and
teachers to explore possibilities for public TV.

" "KRMA Works on Small Budget But Turns Out Big Produc-
tions," Roundup: The Sunda_\ Denver Post, .luly 23. 1961, 1 1.

'* Krummel to Humphrev, Jul\ 24. 1961. "Television" tile. Box
178. President's Files.

-" Trustee's Minutes, May 25-26, 1962.

'" "Recommendations b> the University of Wyoming Teles ision
Comminee," undated report to Humphrey, "Television" tile. Box 178.
President's Files.

" Marvel to Humphrex. June 5. 1962. "Television" file. Box 178.
President's Files.

■•- Griffith to Marvel, Nov. 7, 1962. "Television" file. Box 178,
President's Files.

Aimals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

At the meeting, Griffith was elected chair of the newly
organized "Greater Wyoming Instructional Television"
committee. He told the small group of attendees that Casper
schools already were making extensive use of television.
Most educational programs on the system were imported
ft-om K.RMA in Denver, but each Tuesday afternoon, lo-
cal programming for the educational channel originated at
K.TWO-TV studios in Casper, Paul Schupbach, represent-
ing the Great Plains ITV Library at the University of Ne-
braska, spoke to the group, made up mostly of educators,
about the Nebraska system.""

Soon after. Gov. Hansen wrote to Griffith, calling for
another statewide meeting. Hansen invited Humphrey's
successor, UW President John Fey, State Superintendent
Cecil Shaw, and the owners of two commercial broadcast-
ing companies. Jack Rosenthal of KTWO, Casper, and
Robert McCracken, an otTicer in Frontier Broadcasting,
owner of KFBC-TV, Cheyenne."'"' From this group came
the impetus for a state-supported committee for ETV.
Griffith and several others continued as volunteers, plan-
ning for a public television network, perhaps through uti-
lizing existing broadcast stations and cable television sys-
tems, then coming on line in many Wyoming cities. The
group decided to submit a plan for funding such a system
to the 1 967 Wyoming Legislature, along with a request to
formalize the Wyoming ETV Commission.^'

Nationally, 1967 was a significant year for public tele-
vision. Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act, ex-
panding support for educational television and creating the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Congress also
extended a 1962 act which had authorized $32 million for
"acquisition and installation" of equipment for educational
television around the nation for five years. An appropria-
tion of S 1 0.5 million w as made for Fiscal Year 1 968, $ 1 2.5
million for FY 1969 and $15 million for FY 1970. The
legislation did have limitations. No one state could receive
more than 8 1/2 percent of the total appropriation. But
what would prove more significant to Wyoming, the maxi-
mum grant would be limited to 75 percent of the broadcast
equipment cost, the rest coming as a match from state (or
private) sources.""'

During the 1967 legislative session, Don Tannehill, a
cable operator with connections to the ETV commission,
and State Sen. Peter Madsen met with Governor Hathaway
about how cable could interact with ETV. According to a
later recounting of the meeting, the cable operators were
instructed not to oppose ETV's request, even though many
operators saw the plan as "unrealistic" — ^too expensive and
the ten-year plan too unpredictable."" The legislature, ap-
parently concurring with the assessment made by the cable
operators, passed legislation formalizing the Wyoming
Educational Television Commission as a state agency, but

it rejected the fijnding request proposed in a separate bill.''*

Griffith wrote to the other members about his disappoint-
ment with the 1967 session. "The legislature adjoumedt
and we were unsuccessfial in obtaining any fiands for con-i
struction of a broadcast system," he wrote in February,!
1967. "A bill to create a commission and funding for it
was passed so there can be continuing work to develop a
state system," he added."'''

Governor Hansen had been elected to the U. S. Senate?
in 1 966 and his successor, Stan Hathaway, formally ap- ;
pointed the Wyoming Educational TV Commission.'^!

■" Weston Brooke was elected vice chairman; James Moore, secre- 1
tary; and Robert Kilzer, treasurer. "Correspondence" folder, WyO'
ming Educational Television Commission files, Wyoming State Ar-1
chives. Division of Cultural Resources.

" Hansen to Griffith, March 12, 1965. "Correspondence" folder'
Wyoming Educational Television Commission files, Wyoming Statt
Archives, Division of Cultural Resources. Hansen's informal com-
mittee eventually included; Griffith, chair; J. E. Christensen, Powell
President of Northwest Community College and representing the Com-
munity College Commission; Mrs. Donna Connor, Rawlins, Wyo-
ming County Superintendent's Association; Dr. John Gates, UW; the!
Rev. Jerome Louge, Cheyenne, representing the state's parochia
schools; Leroy Meininger, Huntley, president of the Wyoming Schoo
Board Association; Jack Rosenthal, KTWO-T'V who representeol
broadcasters; Don Tannehill, president of Big Horn Broadcast Comnj
pany of Sheridan, representing Community T'V Antenna Associatiom!
and L. J. Williams, D. D. S., representing "the professions" in Wyo
ming. Others listed on letterhead of the committee included: Dr. Harr '
Broad and Dean Talegan, both from the State Department of Educa ;
tion; Marshall S. Macy, superintendent of schools in Newcastle; anci
James Messimer, Casper, president of the Wyoming Education As
sociation.

■■-' Prior to 1972, the legislature met for only 40 days biennially.

"• Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, HR 6736.

" Minutes of Meetings, Wyoming ETV Commission, May 23, 1968 ;

■" HB 310, introduced on January 26, 1967, would have establishec
an appropriation of $822,000 for the ETV commission. A bipartisai;
group of legislators, Verda James, Harold Hellbaum, LaVeme C. Boal I
June Boyle, Elton Trowbridge, Leon Keith, Arthur L. Buck, Bob R i
Bullock and Marvin E. Emrich were bill co-sponsors. HB 142, estab.
lishing the commission did pass. Sponsors were James, Emrich, Bull
lock. Buck, Boyle, Keith, William S. Curry, Allen E. Campbell, Jo
W. Stewart and Clyde W. Kurtz. "Legislation Folder, 1967-1968,
Wyoming ETV Commission.

"''' Griffith to ETV Committee members, 20 February 1967. "Coi
respondence file," Wyoming ETV Commission, Wyoming State Ai
chives. The act originated as HB 142, filed on January 17, 1967, am
co-sponsored by several Natrona and Laramie county legislators, ir
eluding Verda James who was to be House Speaker in the next sei
sion two years later.

'" Griffith served as chairman; Bert Bell, vice chairman; W. I-
Harrison, a Sheridan CPA, was the secretary. Other members wer^
Robert Schrader, Dean Talagan, Pat Quealy and Warren Sackmais
Cheyenne. Dr. Schrader, superintendent of schools in Cody, later we
elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Bill Grove, vie.
president of KFBC, Cheyenne, and Ben Lockard, chief engineer (f
KTWO, Casper, often appeared at meetings as representatives of th
commercial stations. "Minutes of Meetings," Wyoming Education!'
Television Commission files, Wyoming State Archives. J

Summer

IQQS

Seven members were named to the commission, includ-
ing Griffith. Ex officio representatives were chosen from
two of the state's commercial stations and one member
from UW (broadcasting professor John McMullen)/ '

After the legislative session, committee member Bert
Bell contacted cable operators about utilizing their sys-
tems to disseminate UW programs — at least until July 1,
1969. Cable operators agreed, pointing out the need for
additional microwave applications in order to handle the
universitx 's programs. The UW Board of Trustees would
go to the legislature to get money to defray a portion of the
cost, university officials told the cable operators. Techni-
cal problems meant the system would not start into opera-
tion until the fall of 1 968. more than a year after the meet-
ing. Nonetheless, such a partnership appeared to obviate
the need for a statewide over-the-air ETV system. '-

At the commission's organizational meeting held in July,
1967, at Jackson Lake Lodge, the main discussion con-
cerned choosing a transmitting method for Wyoming. The
choice was between Nebraska's seven transmitter system
or Utah's single-station hub system with 1 00- watt transla-
tors."' No longer was Wyoming leading in educational tele-
vision. Both neighboring states had developed quite so-
phisticated educational television systems while nothing
had been accomplished in Wyoming.

Dr. Ralph Molinari was appointed the executive secre-
tar\ of the commission and introduced to members at the
September 29 meeting on the UW campus. Board mem-
bers, still divided on which transmitting approach to take,
heard a presentation about the Nebraska system.'"* At the
next meeting, held in Casper, a majority opted for the
Nebraska method, but a subcommittee was authorized to
travel to Utah to inspect that system and report back."'

The decision came after significant differences of opin-
ion were voiced. It wasn't until February of the next year,
however, that the board authorized consulting engineer
Tom Morrissey to proceed with engineering studies.'"

Public television by over-the-air transmission no longer
had a clear field. Cable television was making inroads into
Wyoming communities and households. Cable operators
in Wyoming always expressed support for educational tele-
vision in principle, but worried about signal distribution
and the impact on their industry. The UW board of tmst-
ees, at the December 7 meeting, heard presentations from
cable operators on using cable for adult education courses.

ft was not the first meeting of cable operators and edu-
cators. They had been involved since at least September,
1961. In 1964, when the first Morrissey report on ETV
was issued, cable operators saw potential for partnerships
with education. "In April, 1965, all school could be at-
tached to various cable systems free of charge," asserted
Charles Crowell, legal representative of the operators, in

the presentation to the UW Board of Trustees. Cable was
not universal throughout Wyoming, however. Their "reach"
was to approximately 74 percent of the school-aged popu-
lation.'^

ETV proponents were seeking a statewide nervvork —
"publically funded, administered and centrally-
operated.... free with no subscription cost."'* The cable in-
dustry had different goals. The "partnership" arrangement
set up through Bell's initiative the previous year ran into
trouble. On March 4, 1968, UW President William Carlson
withdrew the university's "program and policy statement"
of cooperation with the cable companies. As a result, the
cable firms withdrew microwave applications.'" No ex-
planation was given for the university's decision although,
clearly, supporters of ETV were pleased with the result.""

Representatives from the community antenna sxstems
and cable companies met with the Wyoming ETV Com-
mission on May 23 in Casper. There was "little accord at
the meeting with CATV.""' The "lack of accord" was evi-
dent in the following exchange: Chairman Griftlth asked
the representatives: "Do you believe if ETV is made avail-
able from the CATV that the legislature would ftmd an
ETV system?" The representative answered. "I don't
know." Griffith then asked, "If the CATV people can pro-
vide assistance to ETV, would it do so'^" The representa-
tive replied, "We'd be most happy to." But no details of
"help" were asked or offered."-

The ETV committee, meeting the same day, passed a
resolution urging the University trustees to defer action on
such proposals until such time as the "public telexision

^' The law required a part\ split, but also stipulated that the gov-
ernor should take professional qualifications into account when
making the appointments. See IVyoming Slat. 9-220.1 (1Q67).

^- Minutes of Meetings, Wyoming ETV Commission, Wyoming
State Archives, June 28, 1968.

" Minutes of Meetings, Wyoming ETV Commission, V\ yoming
State Archives.

'^ Ibid. Commissioners Bill Harrison and Bert Bell had met with
the Nebraska ETV personnel. The next day, the commission adiourned
to attend the UW-CSU football game held in Laramie.

" Ibid. The commission heard reports of visits by two commission
members to Cedar City and Salt Lake City.

'" Ibid., minutes of Feb. 12. 1968, held by conference call.

^'Charles Crowell gave the estimate at the May 25, 1968. meeting
of the Wyoming ETV Commission and the figure appears in the board
minutes.

^"Minutes of Meetings. Wyoming ETV Commission, Vlay 2."^. 1968.

'"Ibid

"" A few days later at the March 21 meeting in Cheyenne, Bell
resigned and John McMullen. UW broadcasting professor, was named
ex officio member of the board.

"' Quoting the May minutes, presented for commission approval at
the June 28, 1968, meeting. Wyoming ETV Commission, June 28,
1968.

"'Ibid., May 23, 1968.

Annals or Wyoming; The Wyoming History Journal

issues are resolved."^' The commission was divided on
the issue, however. Bert Bell again stated he believed an
alliance with cable would be beneficial. The rest dis-
agreed.^''

Out-of-state public television was making inroads. Mem-
ber Bill Harrison reported that Sheridan schools planned
to carr\' programming from the Salt Lake City public TV
station. Griffith noted that Casper schools were using
KRMA-TV in Denver, brought to Casper on cable.''^

Griffith repeated concerns that the board lacked state-
wide support. The result was creation of an advisory board
composed of one person from each county.'^

When the board met at Jackson Lake Lodge in June,
Morrissey provided them with ftinding proposals. Each of
the 50 translator sites would require a $20,000 outlay. The
main hub transmitter, tower building and other equipment
would amount to some $500,000. Morrissey gave figures
of $200,000 for the second hub with lower power and an-
other $300,000 for a cenfral production center. In his view,
"shared production facilities" utilizing black and white
would cost $100,000. The entire package was, at least in
the view of some board members, staggering for its ex-
pense— $2.1 million, with an annual operation cost esti-
mated from between $100,000 and $400,000 depending
on picture quality. Locations of the two hubs, one on the
summit between Cheyenne and Laramie (channel 8) and
the second on Casper Mountain (channel 6) were identical
to those proposed in Morrissey's 1 965 study.**^ 'The rather
large figure brought discussion of other methods of get-
ting ETV to Wyoming people," the board secretary wrote
blandly.""*

The commission majority asked Morrissey to provide a
proposal for a "less costly system."By the second day of
the meeting, the engineer presented an alternative plan.
The scaled-back version would have half as many transla-
tors (25), just one main transmitter, a less expensive build-
ing, and a "no-color production center." Total cost of the
alternative would be an estimated $950,000, according to
Morrissey.''''

Clearly, Morrissey's pared down plan would mean lesser
signal penetration in the state. When the board met the
next month, the majority decided to propose Morrissey's
initial, more extensive (and expensive) plan for legislative
approval.™ Apparently, most believed matching flinds
might be utilized for the project, likely from the federal
government.

At the same meeting, the board commissioned a public
opinion survey, to be conducted by the State Department
of Education during the summer of 1 968. The results were
encouraging. Approximately 84 percent of the respondents
said they favored public television in Wyoming, even
though a surprising number had not heard of the proposed

plan and few knew the exact form of transmission."

Armed with the positive poll results, the commission
asked Sackman to draft the proposed legisladon for the
system. Molinari and Bob Smith (hired to do public rela-
tions for the commission earlier that year) were asked to
assist. Gov. Stan Hathaway, State Supt. of Public Instruc-
tion Harry Roberts and Jack Fairweather also attended the
meeting. Hathaway told the commission he would endorse
the concept "but not the specific plan." He said he thought
the commission should ask for no more than $500,000
and then seek a matching commitment elsewhere before
the legislature convened."

Griffith wrote to U. S. Rep. William Henry Harrison
(R- Wyoming) about helping the commission gain federal
funds. Harrison responded that no fiends for ETV had been |
appropriated for 1968. The Department of Health, Educa-
tion and Welfare had requested $12.5 million for 1969,
but the House had authorized just $4.5 million. The Sen- !
ate had not acted on the bill. Harrison added that Wyo-
ming would be ineligible for such ftinds at any rate be- I
cause the ETV Commission "had not applied for a con- !
struction permit." Harrison added that even if the j
commission's plan for a $1 million bond sale were ap- \
proved by the legislature, HEW "would have to wait until li
the money was in hand."'-'

In October, Griffith received similar bad news from the i
director of HEW's Educational Broadcasting Facilities 1
Program. There were "74 applications filed and $33 mil-
lion requested," Raymond J. Stanley reported. With just '
$4 million available and a state limitadon of just $340,000,
federal fijnding seemed out of the question.'^ j

"■' Minutes of Meetings, Wyoming ETV Commission, Dec. 7, 1967. !

" Ibid '

•■"Minutes of Meetings, Wyoming ETV Commission, Feb. 12, 1968.

"" Minutes of Meetings, WETV Commission, Feb. 12, 1968.

" T. G. Morrissey, "Educating with Television in Wyoming: A i
Feasibility Engineering Study," (Cheyenne: State Department of Edu- I
cation, UW and Community College Commission, 1965); "Wyo-
ming ETV Finalization of System Plan and Cost Estimates," (Den-
ver: T. G. Morrissey, Consulting Engineer, n.d.), Intro.

"* Ibid. See also Meeting minutes, Wyoming ETV Commission,
June 28, 1968. Morrissey's report is included with the minutes as
well as in a separate folder.

o" Ibid

™ Meeting minutes, Wyoming ETV Commission, July 11, 1968,)
held at Little America, Cheyenne.

'" Survey, June, 1968, in "Correspondence file," WETV Commis-
sion. Curiously, just 36 percent of those polled had heard about the
ETV proposal; 66 percent had not. Only 2.3 percent of those polled
did not own a television set; 32 percent were cable subscribers while
the other two-thirds received signals from antennas.

^- Meeting minutes, Wyoming ETV Commission, Sept. 18, 1968.

^' Harrison to Griffith, n.d., in ETV Legislation file, Wyoming ETV
Commission.

'■• Raymond J. Stanley to Griffith, Oct. 25, 1968, ETV Legislatioil
file, Wyoming ETV Commission.

1998

Earlier that summer, Hathaway's attorney general's of-
fice reported that funding and authority to establish a state-
wide system through the ETV commission would expire
the next June, according to the enabling legislation passed
in 1967. "1 believe this is our last chance to act," Griffith
told other commission members. "If the Wyoming State
Legislature does not establish an Educational Television
system for our state during the 1969 session, 1 am aft^aid
that our state will not be able to build an ETV system
because of the unavailability of federal matching fiands."''

The board was still torn between a centralized system
and one operating a series of transmitters. Based on what
they perceived as broad public support, the group ham-
mered out a proposal to establish a statewide system, but
with several alternatives having various price tags. On Dec.
12, 1968, Gov. Hathaway proposed that the board submit
one bill for legislative approval rather than one enabling
act and a separate appropriation bill. After changes were
made to the draft and the two bills merged, Molinari sub-
mitted the bill for member approval on December 1 8. Along
with authorization of a system, the bill called for $20,000
for commission operations and $500,000 for a funding
match, the source of the match not yet determined.

An Associated Press report distributed statewide on
December 3 1 gave the commission members pause. In it,
the writer quoted various legislators about their views on
public television. Clearly, the cost figures, reported by AP
to be at least $1 million, brought significant opposition
from several key legislators.'" Griffith and other commis-
sion members were ftirious that the high tlgure had been
cited without noting that the legislature was being asked
for only half of it. A possibility existed for matching fijnds,
they believed, and the article never mentioned it."

Gov. Hathaway, in his State of the State address to the
legislature, spoke out in favor of the ETV system:

Educational television can no longer be considered a
luxury. It is an invaluable classroom aid and provides a
medium for adult education and advanced vocational-tech-
nical training. Wyoming is now one of only two states
that do not have an educational television system. I rec-
ommend that the legislature approve and fund the first
phase of a plan that will, with the assistance of federal
funds, provide an educational television system that will
serve all of the people of Wyoming.™

The legislature did not pass an appropriation for a state-
wide system. Without the state funds, the future of ETV
was cast into doubt once again.

Griffith sent a memo to the rest of the commission mem-
bers on March 4, 1969, calling a meeting — "perhaps the
last" — for later in the month. He wrote that the group
would "consider possibilities for organizing a system with-

out use of state ftinds."'' Following the meeting, Griffith
spoke with Governor Hathaway. "He gave approval to pri-
vate fund-raising," Griffith later wrote to his colleagues.'*"
In one last desperate act to gain financial support for such
a network, Griffith wrote to the Ford Foundation. "The
recounting of the multitude of problems in getting public
broadcasting distributed throughout Wyoming. ..would be
too long for an exploratory letter such as this," he wrote,
adding that factors of distance and small population were
significant.**'

Funding for the commission ended on June 1. 1969.
The structure remained in place in the statutes until 1 994
when the State Telecommunications Council was cre-
ated, taking over what had been some duties of the com-
mission."-

On May 10. 1983, KCWC-TV, the first public televi-
sion station in Wyoming, went on the air, broad-
casting from studios on the campus of Central Wyoming
College, Riverton. Wyoming barely escaped being the last
state in the union to establish public TV. KCWC filed with
the FCC just months before the public TV station in Mon-
tana."

The Riverton station came into being despite repeated
legislative refusals to fund public TV. The initiative, led
by CWC officials, was not without controversy.

After the legislature defeated funding for such a station,
CWC President Bob Barringer recruited a handful of po-
litical supporters, including Gov. Ed Herschler and State
Sen. Roy Peck, a Fremont County Republican. With their

^- "Proposed Wyoming ETV Network," (pamphlet), 1969, in Wyo-
ming ETV Commission files, Wyoming State Archives.

'"A teletype paper copy of the AP release, written by Bob Leeright,
is in commission files. "Correspondence file," WETV Commission,
Wyoming State Archives. In August, 1968, a statewide advisory com-
mittee was selected with members from every county in the state.
Their role in lobbying and support is not clear from the record.

"The state budget picture was unhealthy in 1969, ta.x revenues
not keeping up with demands. It was in this session that the legisla-
ture authorized the tlrst severance ta.x on minerals, a measure des-
tined to keep the state's fiscal condition healthy until the 1990s.

™ "Te.xt of State of the State .Address," Casper Star Tribune, Janu-
ary 16, 1969, p. 12.

™ Griffith to commission members, 4 March 1969, "Correspon-
dence" file, WETV Commission, Wyoming State Archives.

'"Griffith to commission members, 4 April 1969, "Correspondence"
file, WETV Commission, Wyoming State Archives.

*' Griffith to Dr. Ed Meade, Director, Ford Foundation, 24 April
1969, in "Correspondence" file.

'- Statutory authority for the commission was in W\oming Stat-
utes (1977), 9-220. 1 through 9-220.6. The 1 982 renumbering changed
the citiation, but not the language. W.S. 9-2-501 et seq. The current
statute authorizing the State Telecommunications Council is W. S.
9-2-1026.2.

*' Kathleen Sutton, "Public TV Comes to Wyoming," Capitol Times
(Cheyenne), June 1983, 12.

Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

help, CWC was able to resist an attempt by a commercial
station in Casper to remove the Channel 4 designation from
the FCC non-commercial category. Gov. Herschler sent
his own representative to appear before the board of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting to testify for the
Wyoming public station.'*'*

Having won the battle to keep the channel, the college
turned toward gaining support for building the station.
Barringer, whose temi at the college lasted barely a year,
had been replaced by Richard St. Pierre, but the successor
continued the quest.

Federal fiinds, under the Public Telecommunications Fa-
cilities Program, were available for such a station, but they
required a matching appropriation. To most, it seemed
highly unlikely that the legislature would authorize such a
match. St. Pierre bypassed the legislamre and boldly allo-
cated $325,000 from the college's ftinds. Soon, the PTFP
federal match of three times that amount — $976,000 — was
granted. It was the largest federal grant made to start a
public television station and CWC became the only com-
munity college in the world holding a VHF TV station
license."'

KCWC-TV. however, was far from the statewide sys-
tem envisioned by Duke Humphrey in the 1 950s. Repeated

attempts to form a state telecommunications authority were
defeated by the legislature throughout the early 1 980s. State
Sen. Peck introduced bills in 1980 and 1982 to establish
such an entity, but each time, they were defeated.

Nonetheless, Humphrey's dream of public television fi-
nally came to pass. It hadn't been a ''50-year lag" as Maurice
Griffith once bitterly predicted, but his estimate was close.
Thirty-two years after Humphrey's proposal to make Wyo-
ming the first state with public television, Wyoming fi-
nally became the 49th state to have such a channel.

»■' Ibid.

'" Sutton, 12-13. According to Sutton, St. Pierre came under fire
from his own college for making the appropriation to public TV, even-
tually resigning after receiving a no-confidence vote from the fac-
ulty.

Phil Roberts, editor of Annals, has been on the
faculty of the Department of History, University
of Wyoming, since 1990. He holds the J. D. in
law from the University of Wyoming and the
Ph.D. in history from the University of Wash-
ington, Seattle.

Book R

e Views

Edited Ly Carl HallLerg

Black Gold: Patterns in the Development of
Wyoming's Oil Industry. By Mike Mackey.
Powell: Western History Publications, 1997. vi +
160 pages. Illustrations, map, notes, bibliography,
index. Paper, $9.95.

Few would deny the profound influence Wyoming's
oil industry has had on the political, social and economic
development of the state. However, the evolution of that
industry has been fraught with problems not often expe-
rienced by oilmen and companies closer to eastern mar-
kets and distribution centers. Those problems and some
of the people who attempted to overcome them are the
focus of Mike Mackey 's book.

The potential of Wyoming's oil reserves was recog-
nized as early as the 1 880s after the first successfiil well
was drilled near Lander. Succeeding decades would see
a variety of development and marketing strategies used
by would-be and established developers. Mackey uses a

series of short stories to acquaint the reader with these
developers and the methods they used, the positive and
negative influences of the federal government, and the
resources available to large eastern oil companies ulti-
mately responsible for getting most of Wyoming's oil to
market.

Mackey's study of independent oilmen range from Cy
Iba, whose family spent 20 years filing claims in the Salt
Creek oilfields, to Glenn Nielsen, who developed the
Husky Oil Company. Iba worked in the hope he could
someday lease his claims to large companies with the
money to develop them. Through hard work, Nielsen cre-tj
ated a very successful oil company only to have it bought
out from under him by large Canadian oil interests backed
by the Canadian government.

Mackey's survey of government influence ov.i
Wyoming's energy industry includes an examinafion oi I
the Maverick Springs oilfield on the Wind River Reset- j
vadon where federal inaction let the field lie idle for more;'
than two decades. A look at the construction oie

Summer 1998

Cheyenne's aviation fliel plant near the end of World War
II and the role of Wyoming's senior senators in bringing
the plant to Wyoming paints government intervention in
a more positive light. The book's tlnal chapter traces the
government's pursuit of the unpopular Plowshare pro-
gram in the 1970s which was intended to concentrate
natural gas by the detonation of underground nuclear
bombs. While the final chapter is not directly linked with
the development of Wyoming's oil industry, it serves as
a recent example of the potentially disastrous effects
misguided government actions can have on the West's
energy industry.

Nearly all of the examples in Black Gold show a recur-
ring theme - in the Wyoming oil business, hard work and
being the first to discover oil in the field have not been as
important as having huge financial reserves and govern-
ment connections. Large companies with enough capital
to develop and market Wyoming oil have dominated
Wyoming's oil industry for most of its history, and they
have generally left little room for the independent oil-
men.

This book will he of interest to any student of twenti-
eth century Wyoming history. The use of short case stud-
ies to draw attention to the diversity of situations experi-
enced by developers makes Mackey's work very read-
able and digestible. The author refers to his book as a
"slim volume," which it is, and the book is by no means
a definitive exploration ogf Wyoming's oil industry.
However, it provides good, basic insight into the types
of people, processes, and governmental influences that
shaped Wyoming's oil industry and will serve well as a
springboard for further exploration into the subject.

Jim Allison
Wyoming State Museum

The Archaeology of the Donner Party. Edited by
Donald L. Hardesty. Reno: University of Nevada
Press, 1997. xii + 156 pages. Illustrations, tables,
maps, notes, bibliography and index. Cloth, $27.95.

One aspect of the overland migration of the mid-nine-
teenth century that continues to hold historians" (both
professional and avocational) attention is the Donner
Party. There are and will continue to be many unanswered
questions as to why the party suffered as it did, and the
standard historical records, to some extent, will never
provide the answers. This book presents recent archaeo-
logical investigation conducted by the University of Ne-
vada-Reno at the reported Murphy Cabin (as marked by
a bronze plaque in Donner Memorial State Park) and the
Alder Creek locafions in 1984 and 1990 respecdvely and

investigations of the reported Alder Creek location for
the George and Jacob Donner families in 1992 and 1993.

Many research questions were addressed during the
various phases of field work and are discussed in great
detail: is the Murphy Cabin correctly located; exactly
where was the Alder Creek camp; how many shelters
were present in the camp and how were they spaced rela-
tive to each other; did cannibalism actually occur at any
of the camps; what was the material culture left behind
when the camps were abandoned and why did some mem-
bers of the party die while others survived.

The book begins with a historical review of "The
Donner Party Saga" detailing the background of the vari-
ous families in the party, events that happened along the
trail before the Sierra Nevada was reached, what hap-
pened at the winter camp, and how the survivors were
rescued. Much of this information has been previously
presented in other publications but not in the context of
background infonnation for archaeological investigations.
Those familiar with the events will enjoy this review.

The second chapter, "The Donner Party and Overland
Emigration, 1840-1860," puts the Donner party trip into
the context of what was happening along the emigration
trails. There was more to making the overland trip than
just a desire to have new farm land in Oregon or to get
rich in the gold fields of California. People could not
just decide to go and leave their homes but had to care-
fully decide when to leave, what to take along, which
route to take, and who to take along. The Donner Party
had troubles from the start, and one could argue they
were an ill-fated party from the beginning of the trip.

"Archaeology of the Murphy Cabin" and "Archaeol-
ogy of the Alder Creek Camp" are the next two chapters.
The Murphy Cabin excavations (conducted in 1984) defi-
nitely detemiined that the location as marked in the state
park is that described by the various journals and diaries
of the Donner Party. Recovered artifacts and structural
remains provide much infonnation as to how the Donners
lived, interacted, and survived during their ordeal. The
excavations also revealed the cabin site was not the loca-
tion for the mass grave of people who perished at the
camp. The mass grave was supposedly dug in the inte-
rior of one of the cabins, which later burned. This is not
felt to be the "Breen Cabin," whose location remains
unrecorded and may even have been destroyed by early
twentieth century investigations at the site.

The Alder Creek Camp location was investigated in
1989-1993. These investigations were more problemati-
cal because the exact location for the camp w as not known.
Historical documents do not provide a single location
but several possibilities, and researchers discuss all pos-
sible sites (pp. 57-60).

Annals ot Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

Similarly, historical records do not state the number
and type of shelters at the Alder Creek Camp. Up to
three tent locations and two other shelters may have been
present. These structures would have left less archaeo-
logical evidence than that possible at the Donner Cabin
site. Two locations, the "Jacob Donner Locality" and the
"George Donner Locality," which had been previously
identified and interpreted by historians, were excavated
in 1989 and 1990 and contained primarily twentieth cen-
tury artifacts or prehistoric Native American materials.

A systematic metal detector survey in 1990 across the
adjoining meadow, followed by archaeological excava-
tions, revealed that two locations, "The Meadow Local-
ity" and "The Anthill Stump Locality," contained arti-
facts dating from the Donner Party period. The Meadow
Locality is interpreted to be a trash dump. Based on the
collected evidence, the Alder Creek meadow appears to
have been where the Jacob and George Donner families
camped.

Chapter 6 descibes nineteenth century artifacts recov-
ered during the various excavations beginning with a dis-
cussion of the materials known to have been in the Donner
Party baggage, such as tableware, glassware, firearms,
clothing and other personal gear, tobacco pipes, hand
tools, and wagon hardware. The discussions are excel-
lent, but the only problem is the lack of a photographic
scale in the figures.

The final chapter, "New Directions in Donner Party
Research," reviews the archaeological investigations,
discusses the original research questions that were, were
not and could not be answered, and more importantly,
where research in the Donner Party winter camp should
be directed in the future.

The book concludes with three appendices:
"Zooarchaeology of the Murphy Cabin Site," "Ceramics
from the Alder Creek Camp," and "The Timing of Donner
Party Deaths." These provide details for many of the con-
clusions made in the main portion of the book.

This book is recommended for any researcher inter-
ested in the overland migration of the nineteenth century
and how archaeology can help proving and disproving
historical interpretations. Archaeological data often can
provide detailed information about historical events and
tell us more about what happened to people and why than
historical documents can. The studies presented about
the Donner Party are an excellent example of how ar-
chaeology works with history.

Danny N. Walker
Assistant State Archaeologist, Laramie

Tales and Irreverencies of a Country Parson. By

Eugene F. Todd. Cheyenne: Western Americana
Publishing, 1997. xix + 560 pages. \

The Rev. Eugene F. Todd, retired Episcopal priest,
knows how to tell a good story. In Tales and Irreverencies
of a Country Parson, Todd has told us the story of a
Wyoming ranch kid. Baptist pastor and Episcopal priest.
He tells that story with relish, grace and style. As an au-
tobiographical account, Todd holds center stage for the
majority of the stories, but what stories he tells! He knows
how to bring the reader into his life and to care about
what he reads. In the manner of a good storyteller, he
tells just enough, then moves on to something else just
before the reader gets tired of the topic. Along the way,
Todd recounts his very interesting and eventfiil life in i
the Rocky Mountain West. j

The book begins and ends with a drowning. In the first, j
in 1 930, young Gene Todd, then about two, fell into Piney '
Creek and was rescued by his family, unconscious but
still breathing. He quickly recovered, and lived to tell li
many tales. The second ended tragically, with the drown- j
ing of his two-year young grandson in 1995, just as he j
completed the book. As a literary device, it provided per- |
feet bookends. The reality of the personal tragedy brought
tears. Todd's storytelling abilities brought tears on a num- ,
ber of occasions, but far more often it brought laughter, '
as he described the events of a life viewed through a lens
of wry humor and, to borrow his term, irreverency. j

Todd tells about his early life on a Wyoming ranch, li
Bom July 1, 1928, on Big Piney Creek, he began life on r
a family ranch that was doing well. His father had even i!
bought a gasoline-driven Ford tractor, the first in the
neighborhood. All that changed soon, as a fire destroyed
the ranch. The family rebuilt, but the Great Depression t
soon struck, bringing the Todd family the sorrows iti
brought so many others. Todd grew up a solitary boy, j
given to going of alone to watch nature, and also to mi
graine headaches. Although he didn't identify them asi'
such as he grew up, they played an important part in his
life, until he finally received successful treatment for them
in 1987.

Although religion has played a pivotal role in Todd's
life, he was not raised in a "religious" household. He
began to sense a call to the ordained ministry while he
attended the University of Denver. His first call, he felt,i
was to a military career, but that was not to be, and even-
tually he was ordained in the Baptist church. He served
congregations in small Colorado communities, and later
served as Baptist chaplain at the University of SoutW
Dakota. During that time he also began to feel drawn tcp

■kir

Summer 1998

the Episcopal Church. When he finally answered that call,
he decided to become an Episcopal priest, and to pursue
that calling in Wyoming. Alter a year of Anglican Stud-
ies at the Virginia Theological Seminary, Todd was re-
ceived into the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church.
He served congregations in Green River and Cheyenne
until his retirement in 1992, after which he pursued col-
lege teaching and interim ministry in Colorado.

Without going into the details of an interesting and ac-
tive life, let me simply return to my first assertion that
Gene Todd tells a good story. He involved himself with
the people and issues that have filled the decades of the
sixties, seventies, and eighties, civil rights, hippies, the
sexual revolution, AIDS, and he includes stories of meet-
ing such famous individuals as Martin Luther King and
George McGovem. The institutional church has also taken
many hits during these decades, and Todd has played a
part there, too, with forays into ecumenism, charismatic
renewal, fundamentalism, even taking on the Billy Gra-
ham Crusade, which gained him a lot of publicity.

Many of Todd's stories come from his twenty-seven
years as parish priest in St. Mark's, Cheyenne. For Wyo-
ming, St. Mark's is a large church and Cheyenne is a

large city and of course the state capitol. Todd regales us
with tales about many of the characters who formed his
parish, tales filled with warmth and humor. From gover-
nors to street people, Todd brings them to us, and such in
a way that we care to know about them. While Christian-
ity can bring out the best in people, parish life can cer-
tainly bring out the worst as well. Todd's stories of try-
ing to raise money for building renovation, turf-battles
with individuals and vestries, and all the other day-to-
day matters that fill any institution's life ring all too true.
One needn't be an ardent Episcopalian or even affiliated
with a church to recognize the people and events he re-
counts. He describes them in a way to keep the reader
chuckling most of the time, with an occasional tear slip-
ping in along the way. Rather like real life.

Tales and Irreverencies of a Countiy Parson reminds
me a lot of living in Wyoming. Some of it seems im-
probable, much of it seems ludicrous, but through it all
there runs a joy and a reality that fascinated me. Like any
good storyteller, Todd kept me coming back for "just
one more story."

Kristine T. Utterback
University of Wyoming

INDEX

Albert, Carl 33

Allison, Jim, review of Black Gold, 45
Amarillo, Texas 16
Amchitka, Alaska 29
American Automobile Assoc. 1 1
American Council on Education 37
Anderson. Jack 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, (photo, 17)
"Archaeology of the Donner Party," rev., 45-46
Army weasels 12
Arnett, Keeton 37
Arvada 3

Associated Press 44

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) 24, 26-30, 33
Back, Mary 16
Barbat, William 27
Barringer, Bob 45
Basque 4
Bell, Bert 42, 43
Bell, Tom 29
Big Horn Basin Clubs 7
Big Horn Mountains 3
Big Piney, Wyoming 27, 31
Big Sky Snovvriders 23
Birr, Phyllis 29, 32

"Black Gold: Patterns in the Development of
Wyoming's Oil Industry," rev., 45
Bombardier Snowcoach 9, 12, 14, 15
Boulder Dam 31
Boulder Irrigation District 31
Boulder, Wyoming 27,31
Bousman, Floyd 30-33
Bridges 31
Buffalo, Wyoming 3

"Bum Lambs Aren't Really Bum!" by Alice Eder
Jacobson 3

Bureau of Public Roads 7, 11

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 31

Cable operators 42

Cammerer, Amo 7

Campers Cabin building 20, 22

Campers Cabins (photo, 2 1 )

Canyon Village 1 1

Carlson. William 42

Carpenter, Terry 40

Casper S!ar Tribune 29

Casper Mountain 43

CATV 43

Cavanaugh, Mildred McKibben 5

Centennial, Wyo. 36

Central Wyoming College 45

Chamber of Commerce 16

Chicago 13

Cody, Wyoming 14

Colorado State University 31

Commercial television broadcasters 39

Community College Commission 40

Cooke City, Mont. 14

Corporation for Public Broadcasting 41, 45

Coy, Wayne 36

Crowell, Charles 42

Cullen, Hugh Roy 39

Dames and Moore 31,

Deer 12

Delgado, Mildred 32

Denver Public Schools

Department of the Interior 28

Drag, snow 1 8

Dumont Laboratories 37

Dunraven Pass (photo, 2 1 )

Eder, Ernest 3

Eder, Jean 3

Eder, Willard and Herbert 3

Educational Broadcasting Facilities Program 44
Educational Media Council 40
Educational Television and Radio Center 39
El Paso Natural Gas Company (EPNG)

24, 27, 28,30,31,32
El Paso Nuclear Group 30
Environmental Impact Statement 30
Environmental Protection Agency 32
Estey, Harold 19,20,22
ETV Commission 44
Fairweather, Jack 43
Farmington, New Mexico 24, 27
Federal Communications Commission 36
Fey, John T, 41
Fisser, Dr. H. G. 31
Ford Foundation 44
Frank, Owen 27

Frontier Broadcasting 37,38, 41
Garrison, Lemuel 11,12
Gasbuggy 27, 28
Gastellum, Luis 13, 15
Grand Loop 23
Great Plains ITV Library 41
"Great Plains Trilogy" 39
Greater Wyoming Instructional Television 41
Green River Valley Cattlemen's .Association 30
Griffith, Maurice F. 40, 41, 43, 44, 45
Grooming machine (photo) 21
Grooming, road 19
Grove, William 37
Haberthier, V. F. 7
Hamilton Stores 16
Hansen, Clifford P, 32,40.41
Harrison, William Henry 39, 43
Hartzog, George 15,16
Hathaway, Stanley K, 29, 41, 43, 44
Hayward, Claude 26

Annals of Wyoming: Tke Wyoming History Journal

Herschler, Gov. Ed 45

High Coimtiy !^ews, 29

Highway 89 Association II

Humphrey, George 35-37. 39. 45, (photo, 37)

retirement 41
Intercollegiate sports 37
International Snowmobile lndustr> Assoc. 22
International Snowmobile Congress 20
Izaak Walton League 16
Jackson, Wyoming, 11,16
Jackson Hole \ews 3 1
.lackson Lake Lodge 42, 43
Jacobson. Alice Eder 3, (author bio, 5)
.lohnston, Fred 9

Joint Committee on .Atomic Energy 24, 33
Joint Committee on Educational TV 37, 39
KCWC-TV 45
KFBC Radio 37
KFBC-TV 38, 39, 40, 41
KRMA-TV 40,41,43
KTHE Los Angeles 39
K.TWO-TV A\
KUHT, Houston, 39
Kansas State Uni\ersit\ 38
Kidd, Bill 32
Krunimel, Karl O. 40
Lamb, orphan 3
Lamm, Tom 26
Lander Snow-drifters 16
Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory 29
Lederer, Adam (author's bio) 33
Livingston, Mont. 11, 14, 15,23
Lutz and May 37, 38
McCracken, Robert 41
McCraken, Tracy 38,39
McGee, Sen. Gale 16,30
McLaughlin. Johns, 13, 14, 15, 20
McMullen, John 41
Mackey. SalK 30
Madsen, Peter 41
Mallop., Warren M. 36, 37
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel 20
Mammoth Motor Inn 20
Marbleton, Wyoming 27
Marvel, Dr. John 40
Massive Hydraulic Fracturing 28
Medicine Bow, Wyoming 36
Merrian, Lawrence 9
MISSION 66 10, 11, 13
Moguls, snow (photo) 1 8
Molinari, Dr. Ralph 42,43,44
Moran, Wyoming 14
Morrissev, Tom 42, 43
Murphy, Bob 8
Myers. Patty 5

NCAA television committee 37
National Park Service 7, 10, 11, 15, 19
National Park Service rangers 8
National Wildlife Federation 16
Natural gas 24, 27
Nebraska Public Television 40
Newburn, Dr. H. K. 39
Nicholls. Bill 9, 14
Nine Mile Water Hole 4
Ni.xon, Richard M. 24, 28
Norris Geyser area 8
North Central Committee 40
Northern Pacific Railway 13
Nuclear stimulation 24. 25
OtTice of Management and Budget (0MB) 33
Old Faithful 8, 9, 12, 14, 19, 20

Old Faithful Inn, 22

Old Faithful Motor Hotel 15, 20

Old Faithful Snowlodge 16, 17, 22, (photo, 21)

O'Mahoney, Sen. Joseph C. 7, 1 1

Oversnow visitation 14,16

Park Counts' N'en'S 14

Peck, Sen. Roy 45

Perkins. Marlin 13

Peny , Dr. Ken 27

Pilot HiH, 37

Pinedale, Wyoming 13,27, 30

Plowing the roads 17

Plowshare program 28, 33

Polaris Snow Travelers 13

Project Gasbuggy 24

Project Plowshare 24

Project Rulison 25

Project Wagon Wheel 26,31-33

"Project Wagon Wheel: A Nuclear Plowshare for
Wyoming," 24-33

Public Broadcasting Act, 41

Public Telecommunications Facilities Program 45

public television 35, 36, 43,45

"Quest for Public Television," 34-44

Randolph, Phillip 30,31

Ray, Di.xy Lee 28

Reclamation Service 8

Reed, John A. 36

Rifle, Colorado 26

Rio Blanco 26

Road grooming 13, 18

Road system, Yellowstone 1 1

Roads, plowing 7, 1 1

Roberts, Harry 43

Roberts, Phil (author's bio, 45)

Rock River 36

Rogers, Edmund 9, 10

Roncalio, Teno, 33, (photo) 32

Rosenthal, Jack 41

Rulison project 26 (See also Project Rulison)

St. Louis Zoo 13

St. Pierre, Richard 45

Salt Lake City, Utah 16

Schiager. Dr. Keith 3 1

Schlesinger, Dr. James 28

Schupbach, Paul 41

Scottsbluff Nebraska 40

Seven-Mile Bridge (photo, 18)

Shaw, Cecil 41

Sheep 3-5

Shumate, Charlie 10

Simmons, Glenn 8

Simpson, Gov. Milward 1 1

Ski resorts, first 7

Ski-Doos 13, 15

Skiers 17

Smith, Bob 43

Sno-cat 12

Snow Survey Committee 12

Snowcoach tours 20, 22

Snowcoaches 1 8

Snowmachines 1 1

Snowmobile industry 23

Snowmobile policy 17

Snowmobile visitation 20

Snowinobiles 14,17,18, 23, (photo, 21 )

Snowplanes 8, 9

"Snowplanes, Snowcoaches and Snowmobiles: The
Decision to Allow Snowmobiles into
Yellowstone National Park" 6

Snowshoers 1 7

"Somewhere West of Laramie," inside cover

Stanley, Raymond J. 44

State Department of Education 40, 43

State ETV commission 40

State of the State address 44

Straw poll 32

Studios, cost of television 38

Sublette County Library system 29

Sublette County, Wyoming 26-29

"Tales and Irreverancies of a Country Parson,"

rev., 47
Tannehill, Don 41
Television 35
Television stations 39
1 0th Mountain Division 7
Thiokol Company 19
Thomas, Lowell 22, 23
Toboggan 1 3
"Today" show 32
Tourism 8

Tri-State Commission 15, 16
U. S. Department of Health, Education and

Welfare 40
U. S. Highway 89 1 1
UHF channels 36
University of Houston 39
University of Nebraska 38, 41
University of Southern California 39
University of Wvoming 35, 37, 38

Board of Trustees 42
Universitv Television Committee 37, 40, 41
Utterback, Kristine T. 47
V-plow 10
Virginia Meadows 12
Visitation, Yellowstone 7
Visitor facilities, Yellowstone 10
Wagon Wheel Information Committee (WWIC)

29,30
Wagon Wheel Project, 27-33
Walker, Danny N., review of "Archaeology of

the Donner Party," 45-46
Walker. Paul A. 38,39
West Entrance 1 3
West Thumb 20
West Thumb Geyser Basin 1 0
West Yellowstone 8, 13. 19, 20, 23
West Yellowstone Chamber 16
Wight, Monte 13
Wild Kingdom 13
Wildlife Management Institute 16
Winter Visitation to Yellowstone 9
Winter Visitation to Yellowstone, 1967-73 19
Winter Visitation to Yellowstone, 1957-67 13
Winter visitors 20
Wirth, Conrad 11, 14
Wyoming Atomic Stimulation Project 28
Wyoming Education Association 40
Wyoming Educational Television Comm 41
Wyoming Highway Commission 1 1
Wyoming State Legislature 44
Wyoming Wildlife Federation 30
Yellowstone Master Plan 13
Yellowstone National Park 6-23
Yellowstone Organic Act 17
Yellowstone Park Companv
10, II, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21
Yellowstone Park Highway 7
Yellowstone River 8
Yochim, Michael J. (bio) 23
Young, Harold 9, 13, 14

421

Wyoming Pictures

The antelope, raised on the Pitchfork Ranch
near Meeteetse. is being fed by Margot and
Ann ice Be I den. daughters of the photogra-
pher Charles Belden. The photograph was
made about 1 925. Belden 's antelope were
sent to zoos throughout the United States.

Some even made their way to Germany
aboard the Graf Hindenburg. His photo-
graphs appeared in the most popular maga-
zines of the first third of the century. Belden
collection. American Heritage Center. Uni-
versity of Wyoming.

The 1999 Wyoming History Calendar is now available from your local chapter
or bookshop. The theme is "celebrations" in Wyoming communities. From
"Children's Day" in the Douglas Congregational Church to the interior of a
Wheatland store, the images of pioneer Wyoming show the spirit of the state. Of
course, each day has an "anniversary" entry--the important, the mundane, the
tragic, the humorous. The calendar will keep your interest in Wyoming history all
through the year!

Buy your copy now. S5.95 plus tax.

'-, "'■*ri''- i ^' ' '

IHi

mauk

^"Somewhere West of Laramie

SOMEWHERE west of Laramie there's a broncho-
busting, steer-roping girl who knows what I'm talking
about. She can tell what a sassy pony, that's a cross
between greased lightning and the place where it hits, can
do with eleven hundred pounds of steel and action when
he's going high, wide and handsome.

The truth is — the Jordan Playboy w'as built for her.

JORDAN

A N M O T o a

C O fy( P AN V

■i.i/../

WYOMING

Tne ^joming History Journal

Autumn 1998

Vol. 70, No. 4

About the Cover Art

''Bird's Eye View, Thermopolis, Wyo."

"Bird's eye view " picture postcards of Wyoming towns were commonplace in
the first years of this century. This particularly fne example was photographed bv
George W. Herard of Thermopolis and printed by Newvochrome in Germany.

The exact identit}- of the sender is not known, except that her first name was
"Dora. " The message on the back of this card which was addressed to "Miss Julia
Willsoji, 182 Lafayette St., Salem. Mass.. " read: "Doody dear you will think I am
not going to write to you but I am this very day and send you this card besides. It is
not so good as some I have had as it does not show much of the town. Lovingly,
Dora"

Monument Hill is pictured in the background, right. The Hot Springs are directly
below it in this photograph.

The postcard in the collection of Steven L. Roberts, Thornton. Colo.

The editor o( Annals of Wyoming welcomes manuscripts and photographs on ever, aspect of the histor\ ot' Wyoming and the West.
Appropriate tor submission are unpublished, research-based articles which provide new information or which offer new interpreta-
tions of historical events. First-person accounts based on personal experience or recollections of events will be considered for use in
the "Wyoming Memories" section. Articles are reviewed and refereed by members of the journal's Editorial Advisory Board and
others. Decisions regarding publication are made by the editor. Manuscripts (along with suggestions for illustrations or photographs)
should be submitted on computer diskettes in a format created by one of the widely-used word processing programs along with two
printed copies. Submissions and queries should be addressed to Editor, .Annals of Wyoming, P. O. Box 4255, University Station,
Laramie WY 82071.

Editor

Pli.l Roberts

Book Review Eaito

Carl Halltere

Editorial Advison.- Board

Baroara Bogart, Evanston

MaLel Browm, N'ewcastle/Cneyenne

MicnaelJ. Devine, Laramie

James B. Grirritn, Jr., Cneyenne

Don Hodgson, Torrington

Loren Jost, Riverton

Da\nd Katnba, Rock Springs

T A. Larson, Laramie

Jonn D- McDermott, Sneridan

XCilliam H. Moore, Laramie

Kar\a Denison Ronn, Cneyenne

Snern'^ L. Smitn, Moose

Tnomas F. Strooclc, Casper

La^Tence M. ^'"oods, Worland

Wyoming State Historical Society
Publications Committee

RicK Euds!, Laramie

DaWd KatnRa, Roclc Springs

Snerry L. Smitn, Moose

Amy Lawrence, Laramie

Nancy Curtis, Glendo

Patt)' Myers, \( neatland (ex-orficio)

Loren Jost, Riverton (ex-omcio)

PniJ Ronerts, Laramie (ex-ouicio)

Wvoming' ^tatc Historical bocietv
Executive Committee

Patty Myers, President, Wlicatland

Dave Taylor, Casper

Mike lording, Newcastle

Linda FaDian, Cneyenne

DicL Wilder, Cody

Rick Ewig, Laramie

Amy LawTence, Laramie

Jermy Wight, Alton

Judy West, MemDersnip Coordinator

Governor ot Wyoming

Jim Ueringer

Wyoming' Dept. or Commerce

Tucker Fagan, Acting Director

Karvl Denison Rodd, Admini:?trator, Di\'. ol

Cultural Resources

wvoming' Parks 6^ Cultural Resources
Commission

William DuDOis, Cneyenne
MicnaelJ. Devnne, Laramie
Diann Reese, Lyman
Rosie Berger, Big Horn
B. Byron Price, Cody
Hero Frencn, Newcastle
Frank Tim Isanell, Snosnoni
Jeanne Hickey, Cneyenne
Hale Kreycik, Douglas

University oi Wyoming"
Philip Dubois, President
Michael J. Devine, Director,

American Heritage Center
Ohver Walter, Dean,

College of ^Arts and Sciences
William H. Moore, Chair, Dept, of Histon'

nnals of

WYOMING

The Wyoming Histon'

Autumn 1QQ8 Vol. 70, No. 4

^K^oming' Memories

Herding CnicKens on a Wyoming Cattle Rancn

Bv Ajn\' M. Lawrence 2

Tne baN^Ht' or a Sag'e: Olaus Murie ana
tne Historic Ran^e or Wapiti in tne West

Bv Ken Zontel-c 7

Tne Founder or Evansville: Casper Builder W T. Evans

By Jenerson Ulass 20

Memories or Wyoming' Teacner Wana Clay Olson 2Q

Tnomas Harrison and the fciearch ror Oil in Northwest
Wyoming, 1908-1916

ByMikeMackey 32

Recent Acquisitions in the Hebard Collection, L^W

Compiled ny lamsen L. Hert 46

Index 4i

Wyoming Picture Inside Back

Annals of Wyoming The U'wming Huron' Journal is published quarterly b_\ the Wyoming State Historical
Society in association v. ith the Wyoming Department of Commerce, the American Heritage Center, and the
Department ot" History, University of Wyoming. The journal was previously published as the Ouarterly
Bulletin ( 1 923- 1 925 ). Annals of Wyoming ( 1 925- 1 993 ). Wyoming Annals ( 1 993- 1 995 ) and Wyoming His-
tory Journal ( 1995-1996). The Annals has been the official publication of the Wyoming State Historical
Society since 1953 and is distributed as a benetlt of membership to all society members. Membership dues
are: single, $20; joint, $30; student (under 21), $15; institutional, $40; contributing, $100-249; sustaining,
$250-499; patron, $500-999; donor, $1,000+. To join, contact your local chapter or write to the address
below. Articles \n Annals of Wyoming are abstracted in Historical Abstracts tiud America History and Life.

Inquiries about membership, distribution, reprints and back issues should be addressed to Judy West, Co-
ordinator. Wyoming State Historical Society, I 740H1 84 Dell Range Bl\d., Cheyenne W ^^ 82009, Editorial
correspondence should be addressed to the editorial office of Annals of Wyoming. American Heritage Cen-
ter, P. O. Box 4256, University Station, Laramie WY 82071.

ISSN: 1086-7368

\\^

yoming

emories

Herdinq Chickens
on a Wi^ominq Cattle Ranch

Bi^ Ami^ LavOrence

M M y first encounter w ith ranch li\estock was a
J WW face-to-face confrontation with three Bantam
chickens. This all came about because my grandfather
(Axe! Pahner), had bought the old Herrick Ranch on
the Little Laramie and asked Dad to manage the ranch.
Mother and Dad (William H. "BiU" and Rena
Law rence) had been ranch raised, but since Dad's fam-
ily had lost their ranch in the cattle market crash of the
1 920s. he had been forced to accept whatever work he
could find. Eventually we had ended up in California,
the "Land of Golden Opportunity," but ranching was
all Dad ever wanted to do, so we headed back to Wyo-
ming.

Our "prairie schooner" was a newly purchased Model
A truck, dubbed "Greenie" (among other things), and
after considerable family arguments and endless pack-
ing and re-packing. Dad finally had all our belongings
loaded and we were ready to "head "em out." Just be-
fore we left, a close friend of my mother's presented
me with a "going-away" gift of the three tiny chickens
in a crate. My eight-year-old self was delighted, but
Dad, realizing that these alarmed — and noisy — little
birds had to be fed, w atered and protected from w eather
during the trip, was, to put it mildly, "fit to be tied." In
the face of my tears and Mom's "look," he had no
choice. He added the crate to the top of the load.

50 we headed back to a Wyoming ranch. As we
ground slowly eastward, I had visions of "riding
the range" on a wild stallion w ith my long blond hair
streaming in the wind. That vision never materialized
but 1 was heading into a wonderful, adventurous child-
hood of grow ing up on a ranch. Ranching in the 1 930's
was not exacth pioneering but rural living in the years
before the RE.^ and without modem equipment, re-
tained many "old time traditions." So 1 had much to
learn, not only about cowboying, but especially about
chickens....

The important role that the lowly chicken played in
ranch tradition and ambiance is often overlooked by
historians. There is a general belief that ranchers lived
on beef and little else but that was not always true,
especially for small outfits like ours in the "BF" (be-
fore refrigeration) era.' With only an ice box for cool-
ing , a whole or half beef had to be eaten within a short
time or the balance had to be thrown away, laid down
in salt brine or dried.

Consequently, the only easily available fresh meat
was often provided by a flock of chickens, and the fresh
eggs were a primary ingredient for such essential gour-
met pleasures as fried eggs or chocolate cakes. In the
earlier settlement period of the West, chickens in the
yard were usually an indication that there was a woman
in the household. Cowboys were known to ride con-
siderable distances for the possibility of sampling a
piece of cake or other delicacies. Eggs sometimes sold
for a dollar each — so it is obvious that chickens were
an essential element in domesticating the West.

Grandrna and Morn could turn out "never-to-be-for-
gotten" fried chicken and they could also make an old
stewing hen with dumplings a meal to remember. But
chickens do not jump into the pot ready to cook, and
the prelude to getting that succulent chicken on your
plate involved a lot of work, some of which was down-
right disagreeable. Although Mom and Grandma were
actually fond of their chickens and tended them care-
fully, the rest of the family were at best indifferent and
regarded them as a noisy, messy nuisance. Chickens
are silly creatures, frequently involved in some sort of

' Home refrigeration was not available on most ranches until
the 1940's when REA brought electricity to rural areas. Fresh
meat in markets and the rancher's own frozen meat in "locker
plants" was a considerable drive away — over dirt roads.

Autumn 19Q8

crisis from mites- to skunks and the most dreaded job
on many outfits was "cleaning the chicken house."

But their very foolishness made these birds comical
and neither my little dog, Mickey, or myself could re-
frain from occasionally "stirring them up" just to hear
them squawk. Grandma had lectured me sternly on the
subject, explaining that such excitement disturbed the
chickens lifestyle to such an extent that they might quit
laying. So I indulged in this pastime only when the
flock happened accidentally to be directly in my path,
which was fairly often. Mickey, a little brown and white
terrier mix, had no such inhibitions and was particu-
larly adept at ambushing these unsuspecting fowls.

The chickens had free run of the yard and pasture,
and were usualh not penned up in the day time, be-
cause Grandma maintained the\ "did better" w hen the>
could roam in search of bugs and other goodies. Since
we kept the grain in a back room of the house, they
usually wandered that way at some time during the day,
and to do this the\ had to pass a shady corner of the
house where Mickey waited. When they were close
enough, he'd pounce on them, throwing the birds into
a squawking frenzy while feathers flew in all direc-
tions. By the time Grandma could make it to the door
with the broom, Mickey was safely out of reach, inno-
cently swaggering away, satisfied and happy.

Grandma would retreat indoors, muttering dire
threats. 1 hadn't taught the dog to do this, but I must
admit that when I saw him lying in wait by that comer.

I did not bother him. I even hung around to watch the
commotion. Mickey never offered to actualK harm the
birds, but sure enjoyed disturbing their dignity.

In later years my cow horse. Shotgun, discoxered
the same pastime. Mom, Dad and 1 had moxed to an
adjoining ranch, and occasionalK. Shotgun, who. like
most saddle horses, had a sure instinct for an open gate,
would get in the yard. He'd hide in the shade at the
end of a row of sheds, cautiously peeking around the
comer about the time Mother fed the chickens. When
Mom would call her tlock to their dinner, he would
trot out, scattering chickens m all directions, to grab a
few nibbles of com. By the time Mom had shooed him
away with apron flapping and shouted warnings, chick-
ens would be scattered all over the \ ard. Then Shotgun
would trot away, head high in truunph and Dad or 1
would be drafted to run him out of the yard amid frighl-
ftil threats to the safety of the culprit.

Grandma's chicken flock included a nasty white
rooster w ith w horn I had a standing feud. He was a big.
arrogant fellow with a \i\id red comb, a high, proud
tail and long, sharp spurs. It was a considerable dis-
tance between the bams and the house and he'd la\ in

- Mites were tiny bugs that infested the tlock occasional!) .
This meant a thorough dusting with mite powder, which came in
a httle yellow cardboard box, shaped somewhat like a pear which
vou squeezed to spra\ powder on the chickens. Each chicken
had to be caught and sprayed and the chicken house had to be
cleaned and sprayed.

The Heirick/Palmer Ranch, c. 1940. The Little Laramie River is in the foreground. Author's collfciion

Annals ot WyomingrThe Wyoming History Journal

wait for me. if I was not ready to defend myself, he'd
scratch my legs even through my jeans. I complained
to Grandma, but she said he was a "good rooster," add-
ing some explanation about eggs and hens, which I
understood not at all. If I remembered, I would carry a
broom, board or shovel and flatten him if I could reach
him, but he became wary when I carried such weapons
and waited until I was not armed. He even attacked
Dad a time or two. If Dad's boot connected, the rooster
would fly squawking through the air amid a shower of
feathers and land with a bounce, but that didn't dis-
courage him much either.

I was particularly vulnerable when I helped carry milk
fr'om the bam, which was one of my chores. I was only
big enough to carry the buckets half-ftill, but that rooster
seemed to know that I had both hands full with buckets
and would ambush me. I finally learned to use the buck-
ets as a shield and that silly thing would hit those buck-
ets so hard he would dent them, knock himself flat and
slop milk all over me.

It was a happy day for me when Grandma finally
decided he was no longer a necessary part of her flock.
He met his fate in the cooking pot. Tough as he was, I
ha\ e ne\ er enjoyed a meal more. His spurs were given
to me as a "trophy." Gramp, who was forever design-
ing things, carved a cow head out of a thick board,
attached some leather ears to the top and drilled holes
for eyes, nostrils and to insert the spurs as horns. The
"sculpture" immortalized my battle with this feathered
terror. It still sits among my "artifacts."

rhere were two ranks of chickens in Grandma's
flock — the plump, busy laying hens and their
consorts, and the fryers who were predestined for the
skillet. We needed the eggs, so hens who tried to "set"
were discouraged by being thrown off the nest when
eggs were gathered. This required either considerable
skill or heavy gloves. Some of the hens objected to this
infringement of their rights and their peck could be
painful. I let Mom or Grandma handle this chore when
possible. I also had the assignment of spotting a would-
be mother and following her to a hidden nest and re-
turn there for the eggs each day.

Occasionally a hen would be so stubbornly intent on
motherhood, that Grandma would give up and let her
raise a brood, even adding to her collection of eggs to
make the best out of the situation. Or another hen would
escape notice and surprise us with a set of fuzzy young-
sters and then I could understand why Grandma and
Mom liked their chickens. It was satisfying to watch
the hen busily clucking and scratching and pecking at

various tidbits surrounded by the little balls of fluff
trying to imitate her. It was also comical to see the hen
try to gather the babies under her wings and watch an
occasional head pop out between her feathers, or one
independent chick perch on top the mother hen. And
nothing is funnier than watching a tiny would-be rooster
stand on tip toes straining to crow and instead, emit-
ting a strangled squawk.

The few chicks produced by these miscreant hens
were not enough to supply our table, so the process of
raising the fryers actually began with the arrival of a
big flat of baby chicks from the hatchery. It was a sure
sign of spring when the post office and feed stores re-
sounded with the discordant chorus of frightened chirps,
cheeps and quacks of assorted miniature poultry.

If these boxes, which are unmistakable with the large
holes punched in the sides, arrived during a cold spell,
special care had to be taken to get them home without
getting chilled. These little critters were simply look-
ing for a chance to die — another strange chicken char-
acteristic.

"Home" for these chicks for a few weeks was in back
of the coal stove in the kitchen, a spot which they some-

5/7/ and Rena Lawrence. Author 's collection.

Autumn 19Q8

times had to share with a newborn calf or other barn-
yard babies. During a bad spring storm the kitchen of-
ten resembled a nursery with various and sundry little
ones bleating, mooing and peeping while we tried to
keep up with their appetites with bottles and feeders.

Of course, I could not resist cuddling these soft little
balls of fuzz. In fact, I did not even mind cleaning their
box as this entailed gently gathering them up by the
handfuls and transferring them to another, temporary,
bo.x while we laid down fresh newspaper, and clean
and fill the water bottles and feeders. Our water de-
vices were Mason jars screwed into special tlat pans
that had holes supposedly big enough to allow the ba-
bies to drink but small enough to keep them from fall-
ing in, getting wet or drowning. These also helped keep
the water from becoming contaminated because the little
critters are not careful about their bathroom habits. The
chick feed was put in small shallow pans that had to be
changed and tilled frequently as they would tip them
over or fill them with droppings.

Baby chicks are not compassionate. If they're not
closely watched. the\ will peck some unfortunate mem-
ber of the coinmunitx to death or all gather in one cor-
ner and smother the bottom ones.

The chicks were kept behind the stove as long as it
was cold and until they were big enough to hop or use
their tiny developing wings to get out of the box. That
entailed a special kind of patrol to round them up and
put them back in the box to avoid stepping on them or
cleaning up their little "deposits."" Sometimes Grandma
had to find a bigger, higher box to keep them corralled
until they were transferred to the chicken house in a
special pen. Since we had no incubator, if a cold snap
hit, a lantern (later a light bulb) was hung near the pen
to keep them warm — not a practice that a fire warden
would approve, but it worked.

The process of raising these chicks ended when they
were ready for the table, and that involved another un-
pleasant task. I shall never ceased to be amazed at the
memory of my gentle grandmother snaring a few fri-
ers by their legs with a long wire hook, laying them
efficiently on a chopping block, casually chopping off
their heads with a hatchet and turning them loose to
run crazily about to promote draining blood from the
carcass. "Silly as a chicken with its head cut off" is not
a phrase based on imagination. But the worst part was
yet to come as the chickens were dunked in a bucket of
boiling water to make the feathers come off easier and
the birds could be plucked. It was a stench I'll never
forget. But the prospect of that wonderful fried chicken
made it all worth while.

"Grandma and Grandpa " Palmer. Note eggs in the lard
bucket- Author's collection-

Wy ab\' chicks are cute and cuddly — and not too
^# smart — but the ultimate in "dumb"" were the
mrkey chicks that grandma raised occasionally. A friend
or neighbor \\ ould gi\ e her a "setting"" of eggs, three at
the most, which she would put under a hen (chicken),
and hope to get them big enough for holida_\ dinners.
Most chicks, like HenuN' Penny, had sense enough to
run for cover if it rained or hailed — but not turkeys.
They"d stand out in the rain, heads up with mouths
open and drown if \ou let them — and the\ died of cold
if the\ got wet. Their surrogate mother would some-
times tr\' to co\er them in the yard, if a rixulet didn"t
wash all of them down a hill — so when it rained some-
one had to go out to be sure they got under cover. The>'
got special food, too. Grandma chopped up hard-boiled
eggs, very fine, for their tender little gullets. 1 can pic-
ture her sitting in the sunlight by the kitchen w indow .
patiently chopping eggs into tiny bits, using a butcher
knife and an old tin pie plate. If Gramp came in the
house about that time, he would mutter and grumble
about the damage she was doing to the edge of a per-
fectly good knife. Grandma just serenel_\ ignored him.

Annals of Wyoming:Tke Wyoming History Journal

But it was the surrogate mother hen who really had
the problems. She had a hard time keeping all three
eggs safe and warm beneath her, just sort of perched
on top. And, since Grandma tried to pick a really con-
scientious mother, the poor chicken was continuously
frustrated and worried as she tried to teach her odd step-
children a few chicken survival skills. She'd fiiss and
cluck and scratch trying to teach them how to fmd food
and stay close to her. They usually paid no attention.
She also faced a real dilemma trying to shelter the chicks
as the\' grew bigger. There would be heads, legs or
tails sticking out as she tried to balance herself on top
of chicks at least half her size. But, however dumb they
were, those turkeys sure tasted good at Thanksgiving.

Winter presented special problems with our chick-
ens. When snow was deep, they could not go outside.
The chicken house got pretty ""gamey" and there was
little room to feed them. When we moved to the other
ranch, there was a half-empty storage shed nearby, so
Dad would shovel a path to this other building. It was
quite a sight to see Mom leading the chickens through
the snowdrift to their feeding grounds. Both Mother
and Grandma also prepared a bran mash concoction, to
which water, sour milk, and kitchen scraps were added.
In winter this was warmed up in a hope to keep the
chickens happ\' and laying.

However, no amount of care could keep them pro-
ducing eggs year around. When there were extra eggs.
Grandma would "put them down" in "water glass" (sol.
silicate of soda), which, when mixed with water, cre-
ated a half hard substance which kept air away from
the eggs. This was mixed in a large crock in the base-
ment and the eggs carefully laid in it. These eggs were
used only for baking, not for eating — and those crocks
are now a part of my "treasures."

rhe worst chore of the whole chicken-raising
procedure was "cleaning the chicken house"
which had to be done a couple of times a year, usually
in the spring and fall. The manure had to be shoveled
out, the perches scraped off and the nest boxes cleaned.
It was a messy, odorous job that Dad had to be re-
minded of several times before he "got around to it."
One such cleaning ended in a temporary rift in our fam-
ily... it happened this way.

Each time, after the nest boxes were cleaned. Mom
would go down to the corrals with a bushel basket to
get fresh hay to re-line the nests. On one side of the big
center corral was a long log feed rack which was filled
with hay in the fall. But on this late spring day it was
nearly empty. Mom had to go to the loft of the nearby

big bam for fresh hay, and was, as usual, wearing a
dress with a just-below-the-knee length skirt. (Women
on those days rarely wore slacks or overalls except when
actually working in the field). But as Mom came out of
the bam and headed for the gate, she spotted a cow
making a bee-line for her. That particular cow meant
business. Most cows are pretty placid unless you actu-
ally mess with their calves, but this critter was bom
mad, and she hated the whole human race — and there
is nothing any madder than a mad cow. She was a pretty
roan cow with a very feminine head and a set of nasty
little horns. When she had a calf she would charge even
a horse and even a good cow horse was leery of those
homs. If she calved out in the field, we simply let her
be wherever she chose to be. I don't think we ever got
her broken to milk even if she was supposed to be a
good Shorthorn milk cow.

I'm not sure why she was in the corral on that par-
ticular day, but there she was. When Mom saw her,
she let out a scream for "Billy" and headed for the empty
hay rack at a high lope still hollering for "Billy" and
carrying that basket full of hay. Since she had a good
head start, she easily outran old "Roanie," and climbed
into the rack, skirt and all, snagging her hose in the
process. That might have ended the matter satisfacto-
rily, but when she looked up. Dad was standing in the
shed door, unable to conceal his huge grin. He had been
too far away to head off the cow, and he had seen that
Mom had a safe lead. He had, cowboy-like, simply
relaxed and enjoyed the spectacle of his very modest
and usually reserved spouse hot-footing it and climb-
ing into that feed rack, leaving her dignity in her wake.
Later he admitted that he was also amazed by the fact
that she never let go of that basket. But Mother simply
did not agree with his cowboy logic and it was consid-
erable time before she even acknowledged his pres-
ence in the house.

Amy Lawrence is a graduate of the University
of Wyoming where she also received the M.A.
degree. Her thesis was a study of the Douglas-
Willan Sartoris ranch, west of Laramie. An Al-
bany County rancher, she formerly worked as
a news reporter in Laramie and Casper, in
magazine journalism and with the Rodeo Cow-
boys ' Association in Denver. She is treasurer
of the Albany County Chapter, WSHS. and the
southeast representative on the executive com-
mittee, Wyoming State Historical Society. This
article is extracted from a forthcoming book.

(-yoV' C7X)en J^n/eA

laus Murie, the field biologist and award-win
ning author, wrote in his 1951 book. The Elk
of North America: "it may be safely concluded that
the elk have always been at home in the mountains as
well as on the plains."' Yet, after nearly fifty years, the
myth that Euramericans drove elk off the plains en-
dures. A recent letter to the editor of Idaho's Lewiston
Morning Tribune illustrates this point. The correspon-

dent addressed the possible reintroduction of the griz-
zly bear into the Bitterroot Mountains of northern Idaho
and western Montana. The author argued that elk pro-
vided food for grizzly bears and wolves and that since

* The author acknowledges ihe support of the John Calhoun
Smith i^ranl He dedicates this article to Mrs Margaret Murie.

Olaiis Murie

Jackson Hole Historical SocieP. and Museum

Annals ot Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

elk historically did not live in the mountains, then griz-
zlies did not exist there either. The letter stated:

According to some people who study this kind of
thing, elk were originally a plains animal. They took
refuge in the mountains like the deer only after the
great onslaught of white settlers. If there was any deer
or elk for the hunters of the Lewis and Clark expedi-
tion to bring in, they would not have had to eat their
horses. -

Regarding the Lewis and Clark comment, the writer
referred to often-cited portions of the "Corps of Dis-
covery" journals which depict a lack of successful hunt-
ing in the Bitterroot Mountains during the expedition's
crossings in 1805 and 1806.^ Unable to acquire game,
the men resorted to horseflesh. Colt Killed Creek in
the Clearwater National Forest lingers as testimony to
this event.

Nonetheless, the assessment stems from misinterpre-
tation of the Lewis and Clark journals. The expedition
followed lofty ridge lines for easier passage. Game
proved scarce in this high country during those sea-
sons in which they traveled through the area, but their
Native American guide told them that plenty of elk
roamed the lower slopes by the Clearwater River.'' Elk
range did extend into the mountains, just not in the
precise location of Lewis and Clark during their so-
journ.

The controversy regarding elk range solicited by the
letter to the Lewiston Morning Tribune extends far be-
yond scrutiny and interpretation of the journals of Lewis
and Clark. The correspondence reinforces the myth by
attributing it to scientists and implying its historical
precedence. Journals of explorers, fur trappers and trad-
ers, hunters, and scientists, combined with later assess-
ments by outdoor writers and researchers, reveals that
elk lived both on the plains and in the mountains prior
to the extension of the settlement frontier into the vast
western United States.

laus Murie and his family lived in Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, for thirty-six years where he
studied elk. Their domicile began in 1927 when Presi-
dent Calvin Coolidge reacted to the Jackson Hole un-
gulate winterkill problem by establishing the National
Elk Commission. The commission appointed Murie to
be the chief field biologist. He conducted a thorough
study of the life history of elk and every factor affect-
ing their collective welfare.-^ He solved the problem of
winterkill by discovering that overcrowding on the win-
ter range caused the elk to browse farther along branches

than normal. The bigger, rougher browse and human-
supplied foxtail hay caused mouth lesions. These le-
sions became infected and the resulting Necrotic
stomatilis killed many animals.* Murie's work led him
to study the historic record concerning elk and prompted
him to make the assessment that these animals histori-
cally resided in the mountains as well as on the plains.
The field biologist discussed the myth of historic elk
range. His assertion responded to and anticipated the
beliefs of many individuals such as the author of the
Lewiston Morning Tribune letter. Murie wrote:

Today elk are primarily mountain dwellers. Practi-
cally nowhere do they occur on the plains. Yet records
of the early days state that at times elk were noted on
the plains in great numbers. The thought has devel-
oped that the elk is primarily a plains animal which in
early times did not inhabit the mountains but has been
driven there to an unnatural home, in comparatively
recent years by advancing civilization. To support this
contention is the undisputed fact that formerly hordes
of elk lived on the plains. Moreover, many early trav-
elers failed to find elk, or at any rate failed to mention
them, in certain mountain areas; and some even posi-
tively stated that game was scarce.'

Murie insisted that the myth existed because "the fact
of migration was overlooked." People failed to con-
sider local migration habits critical to wapiti seasonal
nourishment. Murie suggested that observers confiised

' Olaus J. Murie, The Elk of North America (Jackson: Teton
Bookshop, 1979; reprint, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole
Books/Wildlife Management Institute, 1951), 53. Another book
which contains a chapter on the history of the elk including his-
toric range is: Jack W. Thomas and Dale E. Toweill, eds.. Elk of
North America: Ecology and Management (Uarnshurg: Stackpole
Books, 1982). Two good but dated bibliographies exist for elk:
Paul Dalke, Bibliography of Elk in North America (Moscow: Co-
operative Wildlife Research Unit, 1968) and John B. Kirsch and
Kenneth R. Greer, Bibliography. ..Wapiti-American Elk and Eu-
ropean Red Deer (Helena: Montana Fish and Game Depart-
ment, 1968).

- Letter to the editor, Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho) 28
January 1996, 3.

' Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, The Journals of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 8 vols., ed. Gary Moulton (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1988), vols. 5-7, passim.

^ Paul Dalke, Levi Mohler, and Wesley Shaw, "Elk and Elk
Hunting in Idaho," Wato Wildlife Review 11 (March-April 1959);
4.

^ Margaret and Olaus Murie, Wapiti Wilderness (Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc., 1967), 8.

* Robert B. Belts, Along the Ramparts of the Tetons: The Saga
of Jackson Hole. Wyoming (Boulder: Colorado Associated Uni-
versity Press, 1978), 190.

' Murie, Elk of North America, 47-48.

Autumn 1998

elk winter range in the lowlands with permanent resi-
dency and they did not observe summer range high in
adjacent mountains/

Moving east to west, Euramerican pioneers initially
encountered and harvested wapiti on the plains. Some
of the more intrepid adventurers discovered elk in the
mountains. They probably saw far fewer elk in the high-
land areas than on the plains. Murie offered an expla-
nation: "The plains elk, both those that spent the whole
year in the open country and those that only wintered
there, naturally would be destroyed first, as they were
so accessible.'"* Thus, the travelers saw numerous elk
in lowland areas because both more pioneers passed
through the area and more elk could be seen in such
areas. Murie explained the comparatively lower num-
bers of wapiti recorded in the mountains. He stated that
"the destmction of mountain elk while on the winter
range on the plains could very well account for the rela-
tive scarcity of these animals even in the high moun-
tains in the few years immediately after the so-called
great slaughter."'"

Murie was familiar with historic records. The Elk of
North America shows that he cited several explorer jour-
nals in formulating his opinion about elk in the moun-
tains. He used Osborne RusselTs invaluable journal
from the 1 830s in documenting significant numbers of
elk in the Uintah, Green and Teton mountains along
with headwaters of the Yellowstone River. Washing-
ton Irving's rendition of Captain Benjamin Bonneville's
narrative from the early 1830s verified elk in Idaho's
Salmon Mountains and Oregon's Blue Mountains. The
1871 Doane expedition into Yellowstone headwaters
echoed Russell's finding of elk in the area. The 1872
Hayden survey expedition recorded abundant quanti-
ties of elk in the Elk, Sheephead, and Medicine Bow
ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Geologist Frank Bra-
dley reported similar abundance along the headwaters
of the Snake River the following year. Emil Wolfe saw
numerous elk in Jackson Hole throughout the 1870s.
In Idaho, Clinton Merriam found wapiti common in
the Sawtooth, Pahsimeroi, Salmon, and Bruneau
ranges." Murie documented these sources to validate
his theory that elk lived in the mountains as well as the
plains.

Murie commented on the historic elk ranges within
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and the Yellowstone Na-
tional Park area. He insisted that in Idaho people sel-
dom found elk in the arid plains. Most of the state's
wapiti stayed in or near the numerous mountain ranges,
especially in the Henry's Lake area of the southeast
portion of the state. '-

Concerning Montana, Murie believed that elk mainly
survived along the wooded bottom lands, ra\ ines, and
river breaks. He thought that the state historically pos-
sessed mountain herds, but the numbers of animals re-
mained fewer than in the lowlands until state fish and
game department personnel later restocked the high-
lands. In particular, Murie thought mountainous,
wooded northwest Montana probably contained a very
limited quantity of wapiti.''

The field biologist considered Wyoming to be the
historically most populated with elk of the three north-
em Rockies states. He contended that comparatively
large numbers of wapiti seasonally wandered between
the ranges and river basins. He juxtaposed these local
migrations to those of Montana's elk population which
tended to either live on the plains or in the mountains
and not on the plains and in the mountains.'^ Where
Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming converge into the
greater Yellowstone ecosystem in general, and
Yellowstone National Park in particular. Murie ac-
knowledged that wapiti remained scarce in the Park
area until after park officials enforced protection. At
that point, thousands of the locally migrating elk stayed
close to or within park boundaries on a more penna-
nent basis. Murie based this assumption on his review
of Yellowstone National Park superintendent records.'*

He fomiulated his opinion on elk range by combin-
ing the historic records with his scientific observations.
He acknowledged that hunting, habitat restriction
caused by human settlement, stocking with available
elk, and protection infiuenced the range selection by
elk. However, he ultimately concluded that "whate\er
the sequence of events was, the herds now living in the
mountains are undoubtedly the descendants of elk that
were originally mountain dwellers [unless artificial re-
stocking occurred]."'"

Proving Murie's conclusion requires consideration
of historic and contemporary documents. Did elk. or
wapiti, inhabit the mountains prior to white hunting
and settlement pressure? The journals of fur trappers
and traders provide the greatest service due to the pas-
sage of these hardy entrepreneurs across the territory.

" Ibid.
" Ibid. 53.
'» Ibid.

" Ibid.. 49-53. Interested readers can consult Murie"s bibliog-
raphy to examine his sources.
'- Ibid, 24.
''Ibid. 31.
'^ Ibid.. 42-46.
" Ibid. 48.
"• Ibid.. 53.

Annals of Wyoming; Tke Wyoming History Journal

With respect to the intermountain region of Idaho,
Montana, and Wyoming, any analysis of the historic
records commences with the journals of Lewis and
Clark. Incidentally, the term "wapiti" first appeared sci-
entifically about the time Lewis and Clark returned from
their epic journey. In 1806, scientist B. S. Barton in-
sisted that since the elk remained yet to receive sys-
tematic analysis, that he could assume "the liberty of
giving it a specific name." Barton stated, "I called it
IVapiti which is the name by which it is known among
the Shawnee or Shawnees Indians."'"

Regardless of Barton's terminology, Lewis and Clark
referred to wapiti as elk. Their route did not take them
into Wyoming, but they did cross the length of Mon-
tana and the width of northern Idaho. The journals re-
veal that the "Corps of Discovery" found elk across
Montana from the plains of the eastern part of the state
to the mountains of the western part.'*' The chroniclers
mentioned the presence of elk on numerous occasions.
For example, they found wapiti in the Beaverhead River
drainage of mountainous southwest Montana and found
them in the ranges and basins to the west as well.''*

However, many individuals, such as the letter writer
to the Lewiston Morning Tribune, use the journals to
prove that elk did not inhabit the mountains. They note
that the explorers reported large herds of the ungulates
on the plains, but did not make such reports in the moun-
tains. This remains true, but more careful reading of
the journal shows that the expedition did find elk sign
in the mountains. The entry of William Clark written
on September 13. 1805, near Lolo Hot Springs in the
Bitterroot Mountains close to the present day Montana-
Idaho boundary illustrates this point. Clark explained
that the men "passed Several Springs which 1 Observed
the Deer, Elk & c. had made roads to."-" The term
"roads" implies an area of heavy animal use which sug-
gests that many elk inhabited or at least traveled through
the area. That the expedition failed to find elk in the
vicinity at that exact time supports Murie's theory of
local migrations.

Sustained historic contact with the intermountain re-
gion of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming did not occur
for nearly two decades in the wake of the Lewis and
Clark expedition. Fur trappers and traders followed in
the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and traveled into new
intennountain areas. Their records further verify the
presence of wapiti in the mountains. Traveling in west-
em Montana in the early 1820s, Alexander Ross and
his company of trappers found that "elk became abun-
dant" in the Bitterroot Valley. He described them as
"numerous."-' Ross also found what he characterized

as a "superabundance" of game on the headwaters of
the Missouri River in southwestern Montana. He wrote,
"We were at the same time surrounded on all sides by
large herds of buffalo, deer, moose, and elk."-- Ross'
records illustrate the range of wapiti in the mountain
valleys of western Montana well in advance of white
settlement pressure which remained decades away in
the future from the 1 820s.

The Hudson's Bay Company's Peter Skene Ogden
and his Snake River Brigade journals further illumi-
nated the range of wapiti in the 1 820s. The Snake River
Brigade's trappers worked in south central Idaho in
1 826. They found elk both in the mountains and down
on the Snake River plain. The brigade relied on elk
venison to sustain them while they trapped in the area.-'
During the winter of 1827-1828, Ogden and his bri-
gade wintered near the confluence of the Snake and
Portneuf rivers by present day Pocatello, Idaho. Ogden
sent out numerous hunting forays to acquire meat.
Hunters harvested elk on many occasions throughout
the area.-'* Ogden's journals display the presence of elk
in the Idaho mountains and reflect the findings of his
colleague Alexander Ross in Montana.

Another source of information regarding elk in the
mountains during the 1820s emerges from more ob-
scure origins than the journals of Ross and Ogden. In
1 826, flir entrepreneur William Kittson plied his trade
from the environs of Kootenai House at the mouth of
the Fisher River on the Kootenai River in rugged north-
west Montana. Kittson reported his fur harvest for the
year. From the "Kutenai" Indians, he acquired 1 ,024
beaver, 473 deer, and 274 elk skins.-' Thus, by the
1 820s, chroniclers documented significant populations
of mountain wapiti across western Montana and down

'' B. S. Barton, "An Account of the Cervus Wapiti or Southern
Elk of North America," Philadelphia Medical and Physical Jour-
nal /(March); 36.

'* Lewis and Clark, Journals, vols. 4 and 5, passim.

'"Ibid., vol.5, 133-134.

=" Ibid.. 203.

-' Ale.xander Ross, Fur Hunters of the Far West. ed. Kenneth A
Spaulding (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956; reprint),
215-216.

-- Ibid., 291.

-' Peter Skene Ogden, Snake Country Journals 1824-25 and
1825-26. ed. E.E. Rich (London: The Hudson's Bay Record Soci-
ety, 1950), 139-141.

-^ Peter Skene Ogden, Snake Countiy Journals 1827-28 and
1828-29, ed. Glyndvvr Williams (London: The Hudson's Bay
Record Society, 1971), 49-70.

-■' Olga Weydemeyer Johnson, Flathead and Kootenay: The Riv-
ers, the Tribes and the Region 's Traders (Glendale: The Arthur
H. Clark Company, 1969), 229.

Autumn 1998

into south central Idaho. In the 1830s there were fur-
ther encounters as explorers gained information about
elk range in Wyoming and along the headwaters of the
Yellowstone and Snake Rivers in what today is known
as the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

In 1831, fur trapper John Work recorded that he and
his accomplices hunted and killed elk in the mountain-
ous areas of western Montana.-* By December 1 4, 1 832,
Work and his fellow trappers approached Lemhi Pass
near the present boundary of Idaho and Montana. Work
recorded, "A herd of some hundreds of elk were feed-
ing a little to the one side of our camp; some of the
people went in pursuit and killed three of them, they
are very lean."-' Three days later, the trappers discov-
ered another large herd in the mountains along the head-
waters of the Salmon River.-* After spending the win-
ter in the area. Work again found a large herd of wapiti
at Lemhi Pass on March 20, 1 832.-" Apparently, Work
kept running across herds making their local migra-
tions as later explained by Olaus Murie. The expedi-
tion moved west. On May 17, they harvested "some
elk" near Trail Creek in south central Idaho."" Less than
a month later, one expedition member named Kanota
killed an elk near the middle fork of the Payette River.
Work explained that "animals are very scarce here at
present probably owing to the snow having so lately
gone off the ground." His next lines indicate that he
understood the local migrations of the area's ungulates.

Work wrote, "From the appearance of the old tracks,
elk and deer were very numerous here in the fall."''
Obviously, Work believed elk inhabited the mountains.
Later in the 1830s, American businessman and hope-
ful fur trader/fish merchant Nathaniel Wyeth recorded
many elk in the mountain valleys of southwestern
Montana in those areas previously visited by Lewis
and Clark and Alexander Ross.'- Mountain man Rob-
ert Newell provided some of the earliest information
about wapiti in the mountain ranges of eastern W\ o-
ming. In March, 1 838, Newell wrote that near the Pow-
der River "Elk Deer Sheep and other game inhabit the
mountains.""

-* John Work. The Journal of John Work A Chief Trader of the
Hudson's Bay Company During His Expedition fi-om Vancouver
to the Flatheads and Blackfeet of the Pacific Northwest, eds.
William S. Lewis and Paul C. Phillips (Cleveland: The .Arthur H.
Clark Company, 1923), 89, 94.

^-' Ibid., 13.

-Ubid., 114.

-"Ibid., 138.

'" Ibid., 154.

'' Ibid.. 163.

'- Nathaniel J. Wyeth, Correspondence and Journals I8S1-18S6.
ed. F.G. Young, a reprint of Sources of the Histoiy of Oregon.
vols. 3-6 (Eugene: University Press, 1899), 197.

" Robert Newell, Memoranda: Travles in the Teritorv of
Missourie: Travle to the Kayuse War: Together with a Report on
the Indians South of the Cohimbia River, ed. Dorothy 0. Johansen
(Portland: Champoeg Press, 1959), 36.

Feeding elk at the
National Elk
Refuge near
Jackson. Olaii.s
Murie was
appointed field
biologist at
Jackson in 1927.
The woman in the
photograph is not
identified.
S. N. Leek collec-
tion. American

j tferitage Center

Annals oi Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

However, Newell did not offer the first account of
wapiti in present da} W}'oming. Osborne Russell docu-
mented manv encounters with elk in the western part
of the state. His journal supersedes that of Newell and
survives as a record of historic elk range and numbers
in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone areas. Owing to
the importance attached to elk in the greater
Yellowstone ecosystem to include Yellowstone Na-
tional Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson
Hole, Russell's journal receives much academic scru-
tiny. For example, Murie relied on it to draw his con-
clusions about historic elk range.

During his trapping days, Russell worked through-
out the intermountain region. He chronicled the moun-
tain range of wapiti. In 1834, he described the area
around Ham's Fork of the Green River. The trapper
wrote that the "country is very mountainous and bro-
ken except in the small alluvial bottoms along the
streams, it abounds with Buffalo, Antelope, Elk and
Bear and some few Deer along the Rivers [sic].""^ His
journal provided more than just outright statements
about the range of wapiti. For example, he noted that a
village of Bannock Indians offered a large supply of
elk skins for trade at Fort Hall in southeastern Idaho.^'
Logic dictates that the Bannocks acquired these skins
in the mountains and adjoining basins of their home-
land. Another allusion to Native American possession
of elk skins likely acquired in the mountains emerges
in Russell's documentation of trade in July, 1835, with
Sheepeater Indians of Shoshone stock in the Lamar
Valley of present day Yellowstone National Park.
Russell stated, "We obtained a large number of Elk
Deer and Sheep skins from them of the finest qual-
ity."^* The Russell journal necessitates scrutiny of such
trade passages to more fully establish the historic range
of elk in the mountains.

After trading with the Sheepeaters in the Lamar Val-
ley, Russell and the other mountain men moved on to
the Gallatin River of Montana. At this mountain wa-
terway, Russell made the observation; "[I] killed the
fattest Elk I ever saw. It was a large Buck the fat on his
rump measured seven inches thick he had 14 spikes or
branches on the left horn and 12 on the right."" Fol-
lowing this kill in 1835, Russell and his companions
continued to hunt and trap in the greater Yellowstone
ecosystem.

In August, 1836, Russell worked with the famous
mountain man Jim Bridger and other trappers within
the present boundaries of Yellowstone National Park.
Russell remarked about the wildlife near present day
Fishing Bridge. He wrote, "This valley is interspersed

with scattering groves of tall pines forming shady re-
treats for the numerous Elk and Deer during the heat of
the Day." The company of trappers followed elk trails
through adjacent hot springs areas and supped on elk
venison.^** They followed the course of the Yellowstone
River and in September of 1 836 moved to the mouth
of Rosebud Creek on the Yellowstone River. Russell
declared that "Deer Elk and Grizzly bear are abun-
dant."^' At Pryor's Fork, Russell similarly witnessed
that the area "abounds with Buffalo Elk Deer and
Bear."-'" In the span of just two months, Osborne Russell
revealed that wapiti occupied both the high and low
country of the Yellowstone ecosystem from the moun-
tainous headwaters to the river breaks out on the plains.
Russell and his companions spent much of 1837
through 1 839 in Wyoming. In 1 837, he found elk to be
"abundant" in the Wind River country.-*' To the north,
within the confines of what later became Yellowstone
National Park, Russell's experience with wapiti con-
tinued. On several occasions, the trappers found, har-
vested, and ate elk.-*- Near Yellowstone Lake, Russell
"found the whole country swarming with Elk we killed
a fat Buck for supper.""*^ The mountain man company
traveled to the region of present Grand Teton National
Park and the National Elk Refuge of Jackson Hole.
Along Lewis' Fork of the Snake River in January, 1 839,
they discovered "plenty of Sheep Elk and some few
Bulls among the rocks and low spurs." The mountain
men trudged through two feet of snow to hunt these
elk and maintain the winter meat supply.^-* The trap-
pers remained in the area through the summer and spent
a considerable amount of time hunting elk. At one point,

Russell claimed that they encountered a "large band of
elk."^5

Osborne Russell's The Journal of a Trapper persists
as a "factual, unembellished narrative" that sheds ex-
traordinary light on the range of significant numbers
of elk in the mountains of the Yellowstone ecosystem

^'' Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper, ed., by Aubrey L.
Haines (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965; reprint from
the original manuscript in the William Robertson Coe Collection
of Western Americana in the Yale University Library), 3.

^5 Ibid., 8.

'^ Ibid., 11.

" Ibid., 29.

'^ Ibid, 44-45.

'" Ibid, 47.

"> Ibid, 51.

■" Ibid., 58.

'- Ibid., 63-65.

« Ibid., 66.

" Ibid., 94.

■»5 Ibid., 102-110.

Autumn 1998

and other highland areas well in advance of white settle-
ment.'"' Sources of information for the 1840s pale in
comparison, but do exist. On July 25, 1845, overland
traveler Joel Palmer found Fort Bridger on the Oregon
Trail in southwestern Wyoming stocked with a "good
supply" of elk skins.'' '

The Native American and Euramerican hunters of
the basins and ranges of western Wyoming evidently
found numerous wapiti. Far to the northwest in for-
ested, mountainous northern Idaho, the Jesuit priest
Father Nicolas Point found elk common in the land of
the Couer d'Alene Indians.'" These two allusions to
wapiti in the 1 840s fail to provide conclusive evidence
of elk range in the mountains. Only when considered
in light of other information from previous and follow-
ing decades do the journals of Palmer and Point offer
solid testimony.

The records of another trading post. Fort Owen, lo-
cated in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, offer further evi-
dence of wapiti in the mountains prior to heavy pres-
sure from white settlement. A review of Fort Owen's
ledgers for 1851 and 1852 shows that an average of
every third fur trading customer exchanged an elk skin
with the post.''" Again, this type of testimony must be
considered with the rest of the body of evidence. Lewis
and Clark found sign of elk in the mountains of west-
em Montana nearly five decades before the years ex-
amined in the Fort Owen ledger. The ledgers confirm
the continued presence of wapiti in the region.

Further scant evidence of elk range in the mountains
of the states under consideration in this manuscript
comes from the recollections of "Uncle Nick"Wilson.""
Uncle Nick left his white family in his youth to live
with the Shoshone Indians. He made the seasonal
rounds throughout Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana with
his adopted people. Uncle Nick described the impor-
tance of the elk to the Shoshones when he recounted an
expedition in the early 1 860s to the "elk country" of
southwest Montana. He recalled the killing of approxi-
mately one hundred elk during the fall along the
Jefferson River which forms one of the three forks of
the headwaters of the Missouri River in mountainous
southwestern Montana."'

'^T'he three decades from 1840 through 1870 of-
\^/ fer meager information about the range of elk
in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Chroniclers rectified this lack of attention to wapiti
populations in the 1870s. People sensed the so-called
"passing of the Great West."- Therefore, travelers to
the area took care to record their observations. Two of

these, the Earl of Dunraven and George Bird Grinnell.
documented their findings. Additionally, the federal
government established Yellowstone National Park in
1 872. Explorers of the new park and administrators fur-
nished reports concerning the numbers of wildlife.

The British Earl of Dunraven hunted the intemioun-
tain region in 1874. He directly commented on the
ranges of elk in his book titled The Great Divide.
Dunraven hunted the headwaters of the Green River in
western Wyoming in the autumn 1874. He sought
wapiti and deer and knew that they passed through the
country in great numbers. Dunraven lamented that he
arrived in the area "too earl\" and experienced "scarceK
any success." He explained the cause of his lack of
success by noting that wapiti

movements being regulated by the seasons, (make] it

impossible to predict the am\al of the herds... They

do not remain long; the bands quickly pass through

and are gone. The same slate of things exists in the

Upper Yellowstone country, and indeed in nearK e\-

ery district with which I am personally acquainted. .A.

localit\' w here game remains all the year round is hard

to find."'

Dunraven added, "1 expect I should starve to-day in a

place where four years ago 1 saw, 1 am sure, more than

a thousand wapiti in one week."^''

Dunraven specifically addressed plains versus moun-
tains as habitat for wapiti. He stated that "\ou ma_\

""' Haines, in Russell, Journal oj a Trapper, i.

'" Joel Palmer, Journal of Travels Over the Rock)' .Mountains.
ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites, in Early Western Trawls. 1784-1S46,
39 vols. (Cleveland: The .Arthur H. Clark Compan>. 1Q05). 30;
80.

^^ Nicholas Point, S.J., Wilderness Kingdom Indian Life in the
Rocky Mountains. 1S40-1847. trans. Joseph Donnelly. S.J ("New
York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1967), 180.

"" George F. Weisel, ed.. Men and Trade on the Norllnrest Fron-
tier as Shown by the Fort Owen Ledger (Missoula: Montana State
University Press, 1955), 7-.\S.

"" Wilson, for whom the town in Teton Count_\ is named, came
to Jackson Hole in 1889. Phil Roberts, et al, il'yoiuing .Almanac.
(Laramie: Skyline West, 1997). 84.

" Elijah Nicholas and Charles .A. Wilson. The While Indian
Boy and Its Sequel the Return of the White Indian (Rapid Cit\:
Fenske Printing Inc., 1985; reprint of The White Indian Boy and
Uncle Nick Among the Shoshones. Salt Lake Cit\: Skelton Book
Company. 1910), 19.

-- George Bird Grinnell, The Passing of the Great fVesr Se-
lected Papers of George Bird Grinnell. ed., John Reiger (New
York: Winchester Press, 1972). Reiger used the term "passing of
the Great West" in the title for his edition of Grinnell's papers.

■' Earl of Dunraven, The Great Divide: Travels m the Upper
Yellowstone in the Summer of 1874 (Lincoln: L!niversit\ of Ne-
braska Press, 1967: reprint, London: Chatto & Windus, 1S76). 9.

"/iW. 10.

Annals of Wyoming: Tne Wyoming History Journal

find herds feeding right down upon the plain among
the cattle: and in a fortnight there will not be one left."
The British earl posed the query, "Where do they go?"
His answer reflected the mountainous range of the elk.
Dunraven claimed the large ungulates went "'up to the
hare fells ... to the deep, black recesses of primeval
forest; to valleys, basins, little parks and plains hidden
among the folds of the mountains.""" Dunraven made
it clear that in the 1870s wapiti remained a plains and
mountain animal as the frontier closed with the estab-
lishment of ranches and farms.

Grinnell, the famed conservationist and sportsman,
explored Montana and Wyoming in 1875. He success-
fully hunted wapiti near present Livingston, Montana,
on his way to Yellowstone National Park.^*" Following
his examination of Yellowstone which served as part
of a larger mission to survey the intemiountain region,
Grinnell fijmished a report to Colonel William Ludlow.
Ludlow included the letter in his 1 875 analysis titled A
Reconnaissance from Carroll. Montana to the
Yellowstone National Park and Return. Grinnell men-
tioned a "terrible destruction of large game, for the hides
alone, which is currently going on in those portions of
Montana and Wyoming through which we passed." He
claimed that hunters persisted in slaughtering elk "by
thousands." More specifically, Grinnell stated, "It is
estimated that during the winter of 1 874- 1 875 not less
than three thousand elk were killed in the valley of the
Yellowstone between the mouth of Trail Creek and the
Hot Springs."'" Grinnell foresaw the extermination of
area big game herds unless the animals received pro-
tection. He insisted that market hunters deserved cul-
prit status for their role in the destruction.'" GrinnelLs
report sheds light on the possible numbers of animals
in the ranges of the Yellowstone ecosystem. His ac-
count differs from that of Osborne Russell in that
Grinnell commented on his findings based upon ob-
servation and interviews while Russell simply listed
his observations.

General W.E. Strong delivered more information
about wapiti in 1 875. The general wrote his account in
A Trip to the Yellowstone National Park in July, Au-
gust, and September. 1875. Strong echoed previous
chroniclers' comments, such as those of the Earl of
Dunraven, about the range and local seasonal migra-
tions made by wapiti. General Strong hunted across
Montana. Traveling on the Missouri River through the
Missouri Breaks, he explained that the stretch of river
extending 250 miles westward from Fort Peck marked
an area of significant elk populations. "There is no part
of Montana, excepting the Judith Basin, equal to this

section of the Missouri for bears, buffalo, elk, and deer,"
explained the military commander.''' Thus, he reiter-
ated that some wapiti remained on the plains while other
elk inhabited the mountains. About the mountain-dwell-
ing elk. Strong wrote, "When the snow falls and the
fierce winter storms begin in November and Decem-
ber, the elk, deer, and sheep leave the summits of the
snowy ranges and come in great bands to the foot-hills
and valleys."''" Strong noted that market hunters in
Yellowstone National Park wreaked havoc on the elk
populations in the lower reaches of their habitat during
the winter months. The market hunters made numer-
ous easy kills using snowshoes to close on weakened
elk mired in snow. Strong documented that market
hunters killed more than four thousand elk in the Mam-
moth Hot Springs Basin alone during the 1874-1875
winter. He added, "Their carcasses and branching ant-
lers can be seen on every hillside and in every val-
ley."*' In light of this slaughter, he concluded that there
existed "considerable game still left on the west side of
the Yellowstone, which, in the summer months, seeks
the highest mountain summits to escape the flies and
mosquitoes.""- Nonetheless, Strong believed that he
witnessed a decreasing elk population within the con-
fines of Yellowstone National Park, and like Grinnell,
he maintained that only protection could save the park's
ungulates from certain demise."^

Strong did not directly observe the local migrations,
winter slaughter, and declining population over time
in the Yellowstone region that he discussed in his jour-
nal. He relied on two individuals for his information.
First, mountain man Jack Baronette accompanied the
expedition. Strong surely discussed the range of elk
with this local expert, who the general praised as pos-
sessing extensive "knowledge of the mountains, riv-
ers, and trails of the Western Territories."""* With re-
spect to the winter harvest. Strong stated that "Jack
Baronette can point out and name the men who glide

" Ibid., 8.

*^ Grinnell, Selected Papers. 1 17.

^' George Bird Grinnell, "American Game Protection," in
George Bird Grinnell and Charles Sheldon, eds., Hunting and
Conservation: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Chtb (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1925), 217.

^Ubid., 218.

'' General W.E. Strong, A Trip to the Yellowstone National
Park in July. August, and September. 1875 ("Norman: University
of Oklahoma Press, 1968), 142.

""Ibid., 104.

0' Ibid., 104-105.

"- Ibid., 105.

"'Ibid., 104.

'^ Ibid., 47.

Autumn 1998

up to the bands of elk on snowshoes and shoot them
down."*'

Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane also went on the
Strong expedition. Doane explored the park area five
years earlier with the General Washburn survey.'"' The
junior officer demonstrated his prowess as an
outdoorsman guiding the Strong entourage along with
Baronette. General Strong decided that Doane"s ear-
lier reports indicated more elk in the area and that the
subsequent winter slaughters accounted for a dimin-
ishing population."^

Yellowstone National Park administrator Major
Philetus W. Norris also commented on the 1875 kill-
ing of wapiti during the winter. He claimed that two
thousand of the more than four thousand elk destroyed
in the Mammoth Hot Springs area perished at the hands
of the Bottler brothers who resided in southwest Mon-
tana."^ Norris furnished his annual report in 1 877 which
denoted an "'abundance of elk" in the park numbering
in the "thousands.""'^

Norris' documentation combined with that of
Dunraven, Grinnell, and Strong to yield a picture of
wapiti range that chroniclers neglected during the three
preceding decades. The observations of these four in-
dividuals depicted wapiti residing both in the moun-
tains and on the river breaks of the plains. They quan-
tified numbers of wapiti in the Yellowstone region that
supported previous assertions such as those of Osborne
Russell in the 1830s. Local migrations accounted for
the clumping of elk herds in the winters which gave
the appearance of massive big game populations that
people may have misinterpreted later as animals driven
off the plains into mountain refuges.

Grinnell and others continued to provide data on the
range of elk during the 1 880s and 1 890s, Grinnell found
"abundant" wapiti in mountainous northwest Montana
on the lands later designated Glacier National Park.™

Also in Montana, pioneer Granville Stuart observed
that

in 1880, the country was practically uninhabited. ..

there were deer, elk, wolves and coyotes on every hill

and in every thicket. .. [while] in the fall of 1883, the

antelope, elk, and deer were indeed scarce. ''

His statement could be misinterpreted to mean that
settlement drove animals off the newly people-inhab-
ited plains; however, the statement probably reflects
that settlers killed animals where they found them.

Although Grinnell's and Stuart's independent assess-
ments of wapiti locations support the argument that
settlement did not drive elk off the plains into new

mountain homes, Theodore Roosevelt's contentions
constitute invaluable reinforcement. Roosevelt came
west in the 1880s and established a ranch in western
Dakota Tertitory along the Little Missouri River.

The young rancher, who later led the hunter-natural-
ist movement that enhanced game management and
habitat preservation, spent much of his recreational time
pursuing game. He found elk particularly alluring as
made evident by his documentation of what he believed
to be the slaying of the last wapiti near his ranch.
Roosevelt bemoaned the "last of his race that will ever
be found in our neighborhood."'- His comment reflects
that the wapiti populations died in place and did not
migrate long distances to new ranges. To pursue elk,
the energetic outdoorsman "found it necessary to leave
[his] ranch" for the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming
where wapiti still roamed.'-' In 1891, he experienced a
successful hunt farther west in Wyoming's Shoshone
Mountains where he reported "elk all around. ""■* He
also found elk abundant in the Bitten-oot Mountains. "

Roosevelt's hunting nartatives and observations in-
dicate the presence of wapiti in the plains or river breaks
and in the mountains, and that the local elk popula-
tions lived and died on their home ranges. Always one
to make scientific analyses, Roosevelt specifically ad-
dressed the range of wapiti. His numerous remarks
wartant presentation and scnitiny. For example, in his
book. The Deer Family, published in 1924, Roosevelt
explained that humans extenninated elk on the high
plains except in rough country refuges such as the Black
Hills, Nebraska's Sand Hills, and bad lands. He wrote,
"The wapiti ceased to be a plains animal. .. the wapiti
was thenceforth a beast of the Rocky Mountain region

"'Ibid., 106.

"■ Ibid., 43.

"Ibid. 104.

"' Aubrey L. Haines, The Yellowstone Story. 2 vols, (^'ello\\-
stone National Park: Yellowstone Librar\' and Museum .Associa-
tion, 1977), 1: 205.

*'' Don E. Redfearn, Russell L. Robbins, and Charles P. Stone,
"Refuges and Elk Management," in Thomas and Toweill. 483.
486.

™ Madison Grant, "The Beginnings of Glacier National Park,"
in Grinnell and Sheldon, Hunting and Conservation. 454,

" Granville Stuart, Fort}' Years on the Frontier. 2 vols,, ed,
Paul C, Phillips (Cleveland: Arthur H, Clark, 1925), 1:187-188,

'- Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips on the Prairie and in tlie
.Mountains (New York: G,P, Putnam's Sons, 1902), 193,

" Ibid.. 162-163,

" Theodore Roosevelt, The Wilderness Hunter: .4n .Account of
tlie Big Game of the United States and Its Chase with Horse.
Hound and Rifle. 2 vols. (New York: The Knickerbocker Press,
1907), 1: 209,235.

''Ibid. 184.

Annals of Wyoming: Tne Wyoming History Journal

proper." This quotation taken by itself without consid-
ering the previously given infonnation about rough
country refuges could be misinterpreted to mean that
people drove elk off the plains into the Rocky Moun-
tains.

Further reading of Roosevelt's text elucidates his in-
tentions. He maintained that destruction of the species
occurred in the mountains as well. Montana wapiti
populations scattered across forested lands "protected
by denser timber." Meanwhile, Roosevelt made the
following assessment about Wyoming wapiti:

They ha\ e nearly vanished from the Big Horn Moun-
tains . . they are still plentiful in and around their great
nursery and breeding ground, the Yellowstone National
Park.'"

In another book. Hunting Trips on the Prairie and in
the Mountains, originally copyrighted in 1885, the
hunter-naturalist contended that elk remained plentiful
on the plains just five years earlier. Roosevelt clarified
the on-site destruction of wapiti herds. He explained,
"After the buffalo the elk are the first animals to disap-
pear from a country when it is settled." Roosevelt con-
tinued, "This arises from their size and consequent con-
spicuousness, and the eagerness with which they are
followed by hunters. "^^ Roosevelt also discussed local
migrations so critical to Olaus Murie's" theory on his-
toric elk range. In another statement from which out-
of-context quotes could lead a reader to believe that
Roosevelt argued that settlement drove elk off the plains
and into the mountains, Roosevelt elaborated on wapiti
range. He stated:

Formerly the elk were plentiful all over the plains,
coming down into them in great bands during the fall
months and traversing their entire extent. But the in-
coming of hunters and cattlemen has driven them off
the ground as completely as buffalo, unlike the latter,
however, they are srill very common in the dense woods
that cover the Rocky Mountains and the other great
mountam chains.''*

Careful scrutiny of this passage reveals that Roosevelt
referred to those wapiti that seasonally migrated be-
tween mountains and adjacent plains. Following hunt-
ing and ranching pressure, the reduced numbers of these
elk tended to remain in thicker cover. Roosevelt's ex-
periences and observations punctuated a century of
chronicles regarding wapiti habitat in the intermoun-
tain region of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming begin-
ning with Lewis and Clark in 1805. Careful research

of these records divulge that wapiti did not leave their
high plains homelands for the high country in the face
of human settlement. They survived and perished in
situ.

The twentieth century literature on historic wapiti
range falls into two categories. First, old-timers reflected
on elk. Second, biologists/outdoor writers, like Olaus
Murie, focused on the past for guidance in modem elk
management. A sampling of old-timer recollections
from Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming typifies the real-
ity and myth of historic elk range. Depression era out-
fitter Lafe Cox spoke about the mountainous terrain of
central Idaho. He stated, "There wasn't any elk right in
this part of the country. . . the elk was originally more
of a desert or a flat animal, and the hunters and the
people and everything started them back and they went
back into the upper country."'' Cox obviously wimessed
the distribution of populations as determined by local
migrations in Idaho. He did not consider that the desert
or flat lands elk either seasonally migrated to the high
country or existed simultaneously with elk in the high
country. Moreover, years of elk reintroductions into
the Idaho backcountry, but not into the inhabited ar-
eas, preceded the Depression.""

In Montana, Kootenai Indian Peter Andrew remem-
bered that his people regularly harvested elk for their
meat and hides in northwest Montana. This mountain
harvesting possessed historic antecedents and persisted
through the settlement frontier into the twentieth cen-
tury.*' Long-time Wyoming resident, J. R. Jones wrote
in 1925 about the elk migrations of Wyoming. He
maintained that Carbon, Albany, Natrona, and Con-
verse counties possessed a "waterless plain" where thou-
sands of wapiti spent the winters. In the spring, they
went to the mountain meadows. About the waterless
plain, Jones wrote, "The elk have disappeared from this
region, the survivors having adjusted themselves to
winter conditions in the high mountains."*- Jones' state-
ment shows that hunters killed the majority of the elk

■"■ Theodore Roosevelt and others, The Deer Family (New York;
The Macmillan Co., 1924), 133-134.

" Roosevelt, Hunting Trips. J55.

'* Ibid., 156.

" Lafe Cox, interview manuscript #0020. Boise: Idaho Oral
History Center, 2 June 1973.

'" Larry D. Bryant and Chris Maser, "Classification and Distri-
bution," in Toweill and Thomas, 42.

*' Johnson. Flathead and Kootenay. 70-71.

'- Joseph R. Jones, Preserving the Game: Gambling. Mining.
Hunting, and Conservation in the Vanishing West (Boise: Boise
State University, 1989: reprints. Outdoor America, no dates given),
138.

Autumn 19Q8

in the lowlands and the survivors altered their migra-
tions to avoid death. The old-timers remembered the
elk, but modern management impacted their view.
Game managers grew herds over the course of the twen-
tieth century. Like the old-timers, the scientists' and
nature authors' views merit consideration.

Idaho authors provide a glimpse of available litera-
ture about historic wapiti range. Zoologist William
Davis in 1939 assessed that historically elk "occurred
commonly on the plains and lower valleys in Idaho
and the West in general, but 'civilization" has pushed
them farther and farther into the mountainous areas
where they are less disturbed.**' Again, it remains ap-
parent that Davis' knowledge of historically abundant
elk on the plains and in the lower valleys combined
with his awareness of significant elk populations in the
forested mountains in 1939 to prompt his contribution
to the myth of historic elk range. Reintroductions and
game management in the mountains and adjoining win-
tering areas produced the appearance that "civilization"
drove elk off the plains. Later Idaho authors gave a
more accurate picture.

Idaho Wildlife Review writers and Idaho Fish and
Game Department personnel Errol Nielson. Marshall
Edson, and Brent Ritchie studied historic elk range.
Nielson conducted his research in eastern Idaho and
published some of his results in 1955. He found that "a
big game herd is closely tied to its customar>' 'home
grounds' particularly in winter."*"' This led him to as-
sess that early eastern Idaho Euramerican settlers hunted
resident elk or migratory elk that spent the winter away
from Yellowstone National Park or Wyoming. Settle-
ment eventually cut off the migratory elk from their
winter grounds. Thus, the increase in animals that re-
mained in the Yellowstone region gave the appearance
that plains elk successfully sought refuge in the moun-
tains. Nielson summarized his assertion: "Herds that
remained on the plains disappeared but animals that
took to the mountains survived and increased.""' He
did not believe that settlement drove elk off the plains
and into the mountains, but only that local migration
patterns altered in the face of human pressure.

Edson researched Idaho development and game man-
agement history to quantify the historic twentieth cen-
tury plight of the state's wapiti. The long-time editor
of the Idaho Wildlife Review determined that big game
animals existed few and far between in Idaho at the
dawn of the century. His teams of interviewers heard
from old-timers that prior to protection of big game,
backcountry Idahoans relentlessly pursued elk. Even
the mountains remained largely barren of significant

populations owing to hunting by miners. These work-
ers supplemented their diets with elk venison in the
big boom areas of Pend d'Oreille, the Salmon country,
the Clearwater country, and Thunder Mountain. Even
as late as 1 9 1 8. the United States Forest Ser\ ice counted
just 610 elk in Idaho. By 1924, management and rein-
troductions grew the herd to more than 5,000. In 1934.
about 1 6.000 elk roamed the state. Three decades later.
the population approached its peak at 60,000. Edson's
numbers dispel the notion that elk from the plains
sought refuge in the mountains. After all, no sanctuar\-
existed in Idaho's mountains until modem game man-
agement took hold.

*' William B. Davis, The Recent Mammals of Idaho (Caldwell:
The Ca.xton Printers, Ltd., 19.^9). 367.

'•^ Errol Nielson, "The Elk of Eastern Idaho," Idaho WihiUfe
Revie\v 7 (September-October 1985), 10.

*' Ibid.. 8.

Margaret and Olaus Miirie. Collection of the Jackson
Hole Historical Societx' and Museum.

Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal

Ritchie, a senior research biologist, added another
important element to debunking the myth. He put for-
ward the concept of a lack of universal game abun-
dance in the West. Ritchie surveyed the journals of trap-
pers such as Osborne Russell. The biologist deduced
that ""game abundance was not universal. . . where game
was plentiful it was very abundant, but in other areas
there was little or none."" Adding this notion of no
universal game abundance to local migration charac-
teristics produces a situation that would confuse any
chronicler or researcher of wapiti populations. Early
settlers saw great numbers of elk on the plains while
later settlers saw many elk in the mountains. People
incorrectly concluded that Euramerican settlement
drove elk off the plains.

Literature about elk continued to increase over the
course of the twentieth century. Olaus Murie's Elk of
North America was and still is the most definitive book
on the subject by a single author. Nonetheless, in 1982,
the Wildlife Management Institute published Elk of
North America: Ecology and Management. Numerous
experts contributed to this comprehensive work. The
bibliography reflects reliance on numerous studies by
Murie. The text, written for the lay person, concerning
historic elk range does not extend beyond his conclu-
sions. Regarding Idaho, it denotes that wapiti histori-
cally occupied the eastern part of the state in areas ad-
jacent to the mountains in the largest numbers."* For
Montana, the book asserts that elk preferred the stream
bottoms and river breaks to the flat open plains.*"* With
respect to Wyoming, the text emphasizes that protec-
tion saved the elk "because elk herds roamed the plains
with the bison, and those not in protected areas were
extirpated rapidly by meat and hide hunters and early
settlers. "'° The reader can see that for nearly two cen-
turies literature clarifying that elk survived in the plains
and mountains availed itself to the interested researcher.
Yet, the myth persists.

n the 1990s, literature concerning the historic
range of wapiti continues to be generated and
serves as support for arguments over public land man-
agement. Dr. Charles Kay, Utah State University, ad-
dressed the topic of wapiti range.*" He made contro-
versial arguments that led him to conclude that wapiti
over-inundate the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in
general, and Yellowstone National Park in particular.
Kay represents one of those "people who study this
kind of thing" as referred to in the letter to the Lewiston
Morning Tribune. His arguments warrant carefiil con-
sideration to prevent their misinterpretation.

Kay insisted that managers of Yellowstone National
Park and the National Elk Refuge near Grand Teton
National Park made incorrect assessments when they
maintained that many thousands of elk historically in-
habited these areas. Kay attacked their arguments on
three fronts. First, Kay used historic photographs and
journals to conclude that wapiti browse species such
as berry bushes and willows once flourished due to
less animals browsing.''- Second, area Native Ameri-
can archeological sites dating back hundreds of years
turn up wapiti remains as only three percent of animal
remains versus eighty percent domination of
Yellowstone today. Third, he tallied elk numbers based
on various historical journals of twenty different expe-
ditions in the area from 1835 through 1876.

Kay neglected to consider the wapiti material cul-
ture of Native Americans as evidence, and he rejected
narratives written after the fact of exploration or cir-
cumstantial evidence/questioning, i.e.. General Strong's
use of Jack Baronette, due to bias toward exaggerating
animal numbers in retrospect. Nonetheless, he con-
tended that expeditionaries spent 765 total days in the
Yellowstone ecosystem and averaged seeing an elk
every 18 days." Of course, this analysis also fails to
consider the lack of universal abundance as evinced by
Errol Nielson of the Idaho Fish and Game Department.
Nonetheless. Kay concludes "Today's ungulate popu-
lation densities do not represent precolumbian [sic]
conditions not only in Yellowstone but throughout the
Intermountain West.'"'''

On the surface it appears that Kay argues against
wapiti historically existing as a mountain animal and
that his solid methodical research proves that
Euramerican settlers certainly drove wapiti off the plains

"■ Marshall Edson, "Idaho Wildlife in the Early Days," Idaho
Wildlife Review 16 (July-August 1963), 8-13.

*' Brent W. Ritchie, "The Good Old Days," Idalw Wildlife
Review (Summer 1976), 7.

** Bryant and Maser, "Classification and Distribution," 42.

*' Ibid., 46-47.

"» Ibid., 58-59.

■" Kay holds a doctorate in wildlife ecology from Utah State
University and is currently affiliated with the university's Insti-
tute of Political Economy.

''- Charles E. Kay, "Aboriginal Overkill; The Role of Native
Americans in Structuring Western Ecosystems," Human Nature
5 (4, 1994), 361.

'^ Charles E. Kay, "Ecosystems Then and Now: A Historical-
Ecological Approach to Ecosystem Management," in Fourth Prai-
rie Conserx'ation and Endangered Species Workshop Sharing the
Prairies: Sustainable Use of a Vulnerable Landscape (Lethbridge:
University of Lethbridge, 1995), 1-5.

"■' Kay, "Aboriginal Overkill," 372.

Autumn 1998

and into the mountains. On the contrary, Kay emerges
as a leading proponent in support of Murie's historic
elk range theory. Kay augments Murie's argument and
begs for an explanation in one lengthy quote. He writes:

Based on their archeological experience in western
Wyoming, both Prison and Wright conclude that large
numbers of elk did not inhabit the mountains in pre-
historic times because the species was primarily a plains
animal, but this supposition is not supported by eco-
logical data. Biological smdies on digestive efficiency,
diet breadth, and energetics have all shown that elk
are superior competitors to bighorn sheep and mule
deer on intermountain winter ranges. Elk will simply
outcompete, and outnumber, the smaller ungulates. If
elk thrive in the Yellowstone ecosystem and other
western mountains today, why were they rare in pre-
historic times'?'^'

Kay makes it clear that his research indicates that elk
prehistorically and historically occupied the mountain
ranges, albeit in reduced numbers. He accounts for the
low numbers of mountain wapiti with his assessment
of the dramatic impact of Native American hunting in
the mountains. Kay insists that Native Americans in
tandem with predators, namely wolves and bears, deci-
mated mountain elk populations through advantageous
harvesting. Indians possessed the technology and de-
sire to take elk whenever possible. They employed
drives, traps, dogs, distance weapons such as the bow
and atlatl, snowshoes, long distance pursuit, and fire to
harvest wapiti. Just as mountain wapiti made easy prey
for the market hunters of the 1870s, so, too, did earlier
elk prove easy for Native Americans to slay. Kay con-
tended that Native Americans sought large ungulates
due to high energy returns for minimal effort and ma-
terial value. They killed a predominance of prime-age
females because those animals yielded fatter meat and
more pliable hides. The indigenous hunters did not
worry about conserving the species since they could
switch to other food sources including animals and plant
stuffs. Wolves and bears harvested young and weak
elk synergistic to Native American harvesting which
kept wapiti populations at minimal levels.'"'

Kay argued that post-Columbian human disease epi-
demics reduced aboriginal hunter numbers enough to
enable elk to initiate a mountain population increase.
He uses demographic studies and archeological records
to support his contention.'*' Early explorers such as
Osborne Russell became the first Euramericans to wit-
ness this expanded population of elk. After Yellowstone
became a national park in 1 872, predator control com-
menced. With reduced Native American hunting and

predator pressure combined with eventual protection
from Euramerican market hunting, the mountain elk
population skyrocketed into the tens of thousands by
1900.'"* Thus, Kay accounted for the growth of the
mountain elk population without gi\ ing any credence
to the myth that Euramerican settlement drove elk off
the high plains into the refuge of the Rocky Moun-
tains.

laus Murie possessed the savvy of a sage.

Wapiti populations lived and died respectively
on the plains or in the mountains with local migration
sometimes uniting the two habitats. Charles Kay's
sound but complex and controversial w ork punctuates
the voluminous literature of two centuries brietl\ sur-
veyed here that supports Murie's timeless conclusion.
Debunking the myth will require repeated exposure of
the reality of historic elk range in both academic and
popular literature for several years. The result could be
more enlightened big game management and public
pressure and lobbying based on historic fact.

'^ Ibid., 363-364. Kay refers to: G.C. Prison, Prehistoric Hunt-
ers of the High Plains. 2d ed. (New York: Academic Press, l^Wl );
and G.A. Wright, People of the High Countiy: Jacksun Hole Be-
fore the Settlers (New York: Peter Lang, 1984).

"" Ibid., 365-377.

•" Ibid.. 380-382.

'« Ibid., 360.

Ken Zontek is a doctoral candidate in histoiy at
the University of Idaho where he concentrates on
ethnohistory and environmental histoiy of the IVest.
His dissertation will analyze the Native .American
attempt to restore bison. He also teaches social stud-
ies in Cashmere, Wash.

Che Founder of euansuille;

Casper Builder W. t. 6uans

By Jefferson Glass

Be was Casper's pioneer building contractor and
the man for whom the town of Evansville is
named. Yet, William Tranter Evans is largely forgot-
ten, even by residents of the town named for him.

Like many pioneer Wyomingites, Evans was a Euro-
pean immigrant. Bom in South Wales on September
29. 1852. he married Elizabeth Caroline Hunt (bom in
Staffordshire, England, May 3, 1852), at Monmouth,
Monmouthshire, South Wales on September 19, 1871.'
Following their marriage they lived at "Crewis," a ram-
bling stone house on Yeo street, Resolven,
Monmouthshire. South Wales, that had been in the
Evans family for 1 50 years. There, Evans worked as a
stonemason and the couple soon started their family. -

Their first five children, Clementina Sarah, Beatrice
M., William J., Emest Oliver, and Edgar T. (Ted) were
bom in Wales.' In the early
1880s, Elizabeth continued
to suffer with illness. Her
doctors recommended an
ocean trip so the family
took a ship to New York in
1882, soon after Edgar's
birth.^

They arrived in New
York City. Although the
exact circumstances of this
visit are unknown, in 1883,
the family settled in York,
Nebraska, where later that
year daughter Edith was
bom.' Times were good for
them in York, although
Evans' occupation there is
uncertain. He likely had a
farm and probably did
some work as a mason.''
W.T. and Elizabeth posed
for photographs that year.

' Evans' birthplace is listed in "W. T. Evans, 77, Pioneer Con-
tractor, succumbs," Casper Tribune-Herald. Oct. 13. 1929, 1-2.
Biographical data of Mrs. Evans is from her obituan'. "Mrs. E. C.
Evans." Natrona Tribune. Aug. 23. 1894. Date and place of mar-
riage is from Cora M. Beach. Women of Wyoming. (Casper: Hoyer
& Co.. 1927). 354.

^ "Prominent Social. Civic Leader Dies." Casper Tribune-Her-
ald. Apr. 27, 1952. 1-2: "Last Rites Held Tuesday for Mrs. P. C.
Nicolaysen." Casper Star. May 2. 1952. 29: "Certified Copy of
an Entry of Birth." the General Register Office. London, copy in
the Trevor Evans Collection. Trevor Evans is the great-great grand-
son of William Tranter Evans.

' Clementina Sarah was bom January' 16. 1872. Because there
are multiple sources stating three different dates for the birth of
Clementina Sarah Evans, the author has chosen the date most
often used by those sources. Beatrice M. was bom in 1873 and
William J., in August, 1874. The dates for both are from their
tombstones. Highland Park Cemetery. Casper. Emest Oliver was
bom Jun. 3, 1880. "Death of Emest Evans," Natrona County Tri-
bune, Aug. 8, 1901, 1. Edgar
T. (Ted) was bom April 1882.
"Early Pioneer Succumbs
Here," Casper Times. July 1,
1938, 6.

■* "Prominent Social, Civic
Leader Dies." Casper Tribune-
Herald. Apr. 27, 1952, 1-2;
Beach, 354.

' Beach, 354: Alfred
James Mokler, History of
Natrona County Wyoming
(Chicago: R. R. Donnelly &
Sons. 1923). 215.

* Kevin Anderson and
Jefferson Glass. "Oral History
of William Trevor Evans", in-
terview of the grandson of Wil-
liam Tranter Evans. Mar. 1998.
casette copy held in the Spe-
cial Collections, Casper Col-
lege Library.

' Photos are in Trevor
Evans Collection. Beach, 354-
355.
William Trevor
Evans collection

William Trantor Evans, c. 1922.

Autumn 1998

Elizabeth's health seemed improved with the climate.'
In 1 884, another son, Ralph Walter was bom, followed
the next year by Archibald F. (Arch).*

In 1886 Evans and three of the older children went
west in a covered wagon. A short time later, Elizabeth
and the younger children boarded the train in York with
the rest of their belongings. They reunited in western
Nebraska, settling in the new town of Grant.'' There,
they lived on a fami and Evans also worked as a car-
penter and a mason.'" In 1887 eldest daughter
Clementina graduated from high school. At the age of
15, she began teaching."

The next year, news reached Grant that the railroad
was coming to Perkins County, Nebraska, but, that it
was going to bypass Grant, building a few miles to the
south. Not to be deterred, the Grant citizens moved the
town to the railroad. Although Evans was not specifi-
cally listed as a participant in this venture (few names
are mentioned), given his experience in construction,
it is likely he was involved.' - In the early spring of

1889, Evans was laying the brick for the first court-
house in the town of Grant. About that time, another
son, Trevor James, was bom.''

Mrs. Evans had been educated in private schools in
England and she wanted her children to have a proper
education. She encouraged daughter Clementina to con-
tinue her schooling at the nomial school in Kearney.
While she was away, Evans was building the new brick
schoolhouse in Grant, completing the stmcture in early

1890. Clementina graduated from normal school in
June, 1890.'-*

That same spring, on April 21,1 890, Emanuel Erben
was awarded the contract to construct the new town
hall in Casper. He asked Evans to leave Grant and come
to Casper to make and lay the brick for this building.
Erban did the carpentry. The structure was the first brick
building ever to be built in Casper. It was located about
midway in the block on the west side of Center street,
between First and Second streets.'^

Later that summer, the school district advertised for
bids to constmct the first schoolhouse in Casper. Erben
and his partner Merrian were awarded the contract.
Again, they hired Evans to do the masonry.'^ While
Evans was in Casper, Elizabeth gave birth to another
son, Cecil, in Grant.''

Late in the year, Evans moved his family to Casper.
Elizabeth and the children, except for Clementina, ar-
rived in Casper just before Christmas of 1890.'*
Clementina stayed in Nebraska to finish her school work
there. When the term ended, she came to Casper aboard
one of the earliest passenger trains, arriving on Janu-
ary 3, 1891.'"

Phil Roberts collection

Center Street. Casper. 1890. the year Evans came to
Casper.

* Ralph's date of birth is from the cemetery records ofNatrona
County, Special Collections, Casper College Library. .Arch's
birthdate is from "Death Claims A. F. Evans, Old Resident Here,"
Casper Daily Tribune, Jun. 23, 1926, 4.

" "W. T. Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, succumbs," Ca.sper
Tribune-Herald, Oct. 13, 1929, 1-2: .Anderson and Glass inter-
view.

'" .Anderson and Glass interview.

" "Last Rites Held Tuesday for Mrs. P. C. Nicolaysen," Casper
Star. May 2, 1952, 29.

'- Telephone interviews of Robert Richter, March and .April.
1998. Richter is author of lOO Years in Grant. (Grant: Perkins
County Historical Society, 1986).

'' Trevor James Evans was born in Grant on .March 22. 1889.
See "W. T. Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, succumbs." Casper
Tribune-Herald, Oct. 13, 1929, 1-2, for reference to E\ans' work
on the Grant courthouse. The building still stands and is in use
commercially. Richter interviews.

'' Beach, 354, 356. The Evans' posed for a family photograph
sometime that summer in Grant, before Clementina left for school.
The photo is in the Trevor Evans collection.

'^ Mokler, 169. The bell, that had been used as a community
fire alarm, was removed with the copula after a fire in the build-
ing when the building was known as the Bell Theater. The bell is
now housed at the Fort Caspar Museum. The structure is still
standing and has been in continuous use, housing several busi-
nesses since its retirement from public service. Casper Zonta Club,
ed., Casper Chronicles (Casper: Zonta Club and Mountain States
Lithography, c. 1964). 59.

'" Mokler, 211. Bids were advertised in .August of 1890.

" Cecil's birthdate and place is listed in cemeter\ records of
Natrona County, Special Collections. Casper College Library.

" "W. T. Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, succumbs," Casper
Tribune-Herald, Oct. 13, 1929, 1-2.

'" "Prominent Social. Civic Leader Dies." Casper Tribune-Her-
ald, April 27, 1952, 1-2; Beach, 356.

Annals oi Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Two weeks later, when "Old Central" (as the school
would come to be known) opened the doors to its first
students, Clementina became the first teacher in the
new school.-" Clementina and the principal, J. C. Wil-
liams, made up the entire staff. They held classes in
the two upstairs rooms. The two lower rooms were left
unfinished until the fall of 1 894.-'

In order that bricks could be produced locally, Evans
established a clay mine seven miles west of Casper on
the Gothberg ranch. The clay was brought back to the
outskirts of Casper by wagon. There, it was cleaned,
processed, molded into shape, dried, and fired to pro-
duce finished bricks. It is not known how many people
Evans employed during his many years of construc-
tion around Casper, but building with brick is a labor
intensive method of construction. What is known of
Evans' workforce is that it included all of his sons at
one time or another."

In 1891, the Evans family was establishing a new
home in Casper and Evans was making a comfortable
living in a town that needed his skills. There was work
enough for his sons, and his daughters were probably
the "talk of the town." Elizabeth, bom and educated in
a world far different than that of a frontier town, be-
lieved Casper was seriously lacking a proper church.
The "community tabemacle,"served as courtroom,
school, and meeting hall. To Elizabeth, it just did not
fill the bill. There was need for a church building. The
only Episcopalians in Casper in 1891, the Evans con-
tacted Bishop Ethelbert Talbot, who had been assigned
to the missionary diocese that included most of Wyo-
ming. When Bishop Talbot arrived in Casper he ana-
lyzed the place and then went to every saloon in town,
requesting donations from the proprietors and custom-
ers. Soon, he had raised a considerable amount of cash
toward the sum that would be needed. Meanwhile,
Elizabeth solicited donations fi^om leading business-
men and, soon, they had the capital needed to begin
construction.-'

E\ans, hired as contractor, began construction of the
framed St. Mark's Episcopal Church on the comer of
what is now Second and Wolcott streets.-'' The build-
ing was completed on Oct. 27, 1891. The Evans fam-
ily spent most of that night cleaning and fiamishing it
because Clementina was to be married in it the next
day. There, on Oct. 28, 1891, she married Peter C.
Nicolaysen.-^

In those early years, the Evans family made up the
entire choir for St. Mark's Church. Elizabeth, trained
in music, had what was described as a beautiful so-
prano voice. She would be joined by W.T., Beatrice,

and William J., while Clementina accompanied the
choir on the organ.-''

That first St. Mark's Episcopal Church of Casper,
built by W.T. Evans, was moved twice and had an ad-
dition built on it. It is now located at the Central Wyo-
ming Fairgrounds.-'

Clementina's husband, P.C. Nicolaysen, already was
a well-known Casper businessman. Bom in Denmark
on July 7, 1863, he had come to the "Old Town" of
Casper in late spring or early summer of 1888. There,
he was listed as a businessman before Casper was
moved to its new location. In November of 1888,
Nicolaysen's "Stock Exchange" saloon opened in the
"New Town" of Casper. When W.S. Kimball published
the first issue of the Wyoming Derrick on May 21,1 890,
P. C. Nicolaysen was one of his partners.-*"

Evans, in partnership with his new son-in-law, con-
stmcted a four-room brick home for the new bride and
groom at the comer of First and Wolcott streets. Al-
though not large by later standards, it was one of the
three largest homes in Casper at that time and the first
to be built fi-om brick. The Nicolaysens lived there for
more than 30 years.-'

Soon after the marriage of their eldest child, Eliza-
beth gave birth to Herbert O., the first Evans to be bom
in Wyoming and the last child bom to W.T. and Eliza-

-" The school opened January 20, 1891. Casper Chronicles. 24.

-' Moklcr, 211-212.

-- Later generations that knew them recall the sons reminiscing
of many hot summer days firing their father's brick kilns. .Ander-
son and Glass interview.

-■' Some of the contributors were George Mitchell, mayor of
Casper; A. J. Cunningham, manager of C.H. King Company;
rancher B. B. Brooks; P.C. Nicolaysen, and W. S. Kimball. Rob-
ert David, "History of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming," un-
published manuscript, David Historical Collection, Special Col-
lections, Casper College Library. During the time that the funds
were being raised, Elizabeth was involved in numerous church
endeavors. In May, she founded St. Mark's Episcopal Guild,
Casper's first women's organization and the foundation for many
others in later years. Clementina, who had been teaching Sum-
mer School in Bessemer, established Casper's first community
Sunday School at the new town hall. With the Sunday School as
sponsor, she organized the biggest Fourth of July celebration the
area had ever seen to that time. Beach, 354. 356; Mokler, 221;
David.

-■* Casper Chronicles, 19; map, "Casper, Natrona County, Wyo."
Sanhorn-Perris Map Co., c. May, 1894.

=' Beach, 354.

" Ibid.

-' Casper Chronicles, 19. A photograph, in the Trevor Evans
collection, taken shortly after the church was completed looks
much like the building today.

=« Beach, 358; Mokler, 30, 116-117.

-" Beach, 358.

Autumn 1998

Evans' work crew constructing the Richards and Cunningham building, comer nf 2ihl and Center streets. Casper.
1894. Evans is wearing the vest. (top. second from left). William Trevor Evans culleetion.

beth/" The next year, their first granddaughter, EHza-
beth Maren Nicolaysen, was bom on July 2, 1892/'
Less than a month later, on August 1 , contractor Evans
was awarded the contract to construct the new City/
County Jail on the west side of David street, between
what is now Second and Midwest streets. ^-

While Evans' career as a contractor was thriving, a
series of tragedies befall in the family in the following
two years. On Sept. 1 1, 1892, daughter Beatrice, died
at the age of 19." Joy replaced grief temporarily with
the birth of grandchild Edith Beulah Nicolaysen on July
30, 1893. The happiness proved to be short-lived. Both
Nicolaysen children died that September.'^ Just four
months later, Evans' son Herbert died, followed by son
Cecil in May. 1894.'^

About the time of Herbert's death, the bank of
Richards, Cunningham, and Company merged with the
C. H. King and Company bank. Evans was hired to
construct their new building.''' During the construction
of the bank structure, Evans purchased the lot that once
had been occupied by Lou Polk's infamous dancehall.
There, he tried to help ease his family's pain, by build-
ing for them a comfortable new frame house that he
later veneered with brick." Before the house was fin-
ished, Elizabeth contracted blood poisoning and died
on August 21, 1894.-'*

Despite the personal loss, Evans continued to build.
Early in 1895, he contracted to do the masonr> work
for the new Pennsylvania Oil Company refinery being
built on Center street, just south of the railroad tracks
in Casper.^" The refinery went into production March
5, 1895, and continued until the summer of 1907. the
same period in which Evans become established and
accepted as a prominent builder and mason. 0\er the

'" "Mrs. E. C. Evans," Natrona Tribune. .Aug. 23, 18^)4.

-" Beach, 358.

'- David, "History of the Episcopal Church"; "Casper. Natrona
Co.," Sanborn map; Mokler, 123. The building was to the rear of
the lot that is now occupied b\ the tlrehall.

"' Date is from Beatrice's tombstone. Highland Park Cemeterx.
Casper.

'' Beach, 358.

" Tombstone in Highland Park Cemetery, Casper, lists date of
death as Feb. 15, 1894.

''• Mokler, 24.

" Casper Chronicles, 43; Mokler, 429.

^^ "Mrs. E. C. Evans," Natrona Tribune, Aug. 23, 1894. Grand-
daughter Beatrice Maren Nicolaysen was bom two months later
on October 26.

'" Mokler, 247-250; Casper Chronicles, 61-62. Few people in
the Casper area are aware that this refinery e\er existed, not to
mention that it was the first refinery in Wyoming. It was not \er\
large and produced only lubricants from crude oil brought in on
tank wagons with string teams from the Salt Creek oil fields.

Annals oi Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Evans enjoyed this outing to
Bates Hole, south of Casper, in
1923. William Trevor Evans col-
lection.

Casper 's first town hall, constructed by-
Evans in 1890, pictured when in use
as the Bell Theater, c. 1912.

lati

Autumn 1998

Evans aboard an ostrich at Cawston Ostrich Farm in California in
1913. Evans was so fascinated by the huge birds that he started
raising them in Wyoming. William Trevor Evans collection.

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

next few years, he was contractor for several buildings
in the Casper business district, including most com-
mercial buildings in the Rohrbaugh and Smith blocks
and many in the Richards and Cunningham block.'"*

In 1898 the United States became involved in the
Spanish-American War. William J. Evans, although
bom in Wales, enlisted in the Wyoming battalion and
was mustered into service at Cheyenne. On May 18,
1898, his unit boarded a San Francisco-bound train,
enroute to Manila.'" Released from duty at the end of
the war, he returned to work in Casper.^-

Early in 1 900, Ms. Wealthy Stanley moved to Casper
from Hay Springs, Nebraska. Bom in Iowa in Novem-
ber, 1 853, she soon caught the eye of widower Evans.''^
His daughter Edith was in her first year of teaching
5th and 6th graders at old Central and Ernest Evans
was convalescing from pleurisy at the home of his sis-
ter, Clementina, when W.T. and Wealthy were mar-
ried in November after a brief courtship.''"' Emest's ill-
ness had not been considered serious, though it had
been disabling. Suddenly, however, his condition wors-
ened and he died on August 4, 1901."^

Four years later, on December 19, 1905, Evans filed
for a homestead patent on a parcel of land three miles
east of Casper where he and wife Wealthy started a
small ranch. In addition to the homestead, he leased
several hundred acres from the State"" He built a com-
fortable frame house and a carriage house, that included
a bunkhouse. During a remodeling project several years
ago, it was discovered that he had insulated the walls
of the house with brick. The house is standing.'"

In 1906 the framed Episcopal chapel Evans had built
fifteen years earlier was moved to the rear of the lot at
the comer of Second and Wolcott streets. On the site,
Evans began construction of a beautifial brick St. Mark's
Episcopal Church.""*

Early the next year, while the church was still under
constmction, Evans contracted with Marvin L. Bishop,
Sr., to build Casper's first brick mansion. Bishop knew
exactly what he wanted— a replica of his childhood home
in the Shenandoah Valley. Bishop selected a lot at 818
East Second Street which, at the time, was a short dis-
tance east of town. He then drew some sketches from
memory of the home he had loved as a boy. A plan
was drawn and Evans began the work. The result was
a beautiful, high-ceiling, southem-style mansion. Built
of a traditional red brick, it boasted white shutters and
tall white pillars supporting the portico. The home still
stands at the same location today and, at last report,
was still occupied by members of the Bishop family.""

In 1907 Evans was fifty-five years old. In that era,
he had already surpassed the average man's life ex-

pectancy. At this late age he built what, even by today's
standards, would be considered a sumptuous house and
a large church, both out of brick, in just over a year.
The church was completed and first services were held
in it on November 27, 1907.-^" At the same time, Evans
continued to operate his ranch.

At the beginning of the next decade, Evans still was
working as a stonemason and plasterer. '' On April 24,

40 "^ J Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, Succumbs," Casper
Tribune-Herald, Oct. 13, 1929, 1-2. Many members of the com-
munity (especially children) had suffered illness and even death
as a result of drinking polluted water from the wells in and around
Casper. The governing body of the town had unsuccessfully tried
to establish a clean and reliable drinking water supply for several
years. In late November and early December of 1895, a diphthe-
ria epidemic struck Casper. Most families that could afford to do
so took their children from Casper before a quarantine was im-
posed. The quarantine was lifted in February of 1896. On May
26, 1896, Casper's first public water system went into operation.
The epidemic evidently provided the urgency needed to get ap-
proval to implement the project. Evans again became a grandfa-
ther in August of 1896 when Cecil Evans Nicolaysen was bom.
on the fourteenth of that month. Beach, 358.

■" "Death Claims Former Resident," Casper Tribune-Herald,
May 21, 1945, 2. On July 8th, the Nicolaysen family increased
by one with the birth of their second son, Peter C, Jr. Beach, 358.
In his first month in the world, his uncle, William J., was en-
gaged in the battle of Manila. Mokler, 52.

■*- Early in 1899, W. T. Evans and Peter C. Nicolaysen, Arch,
Ted, Ralph and Trevor James Evans, Cecil Nicolaysen and Peter
C. Nicolaysen, Jr., posed for a photograph of the "men of the
family," in Casper. William J. Evans was absent from this photo-
graph, but on July 6, 1899, he received his orders to return to the
United States. In 1900 and 1901 he and W.T. Evans were both
listed as members of the Casper 'Volunteer Fire Department.
Mokler, 62, 155.

" "Scarf Caught in Wringer is Fatal to Aged Casper Woman,"
Casper Daily Tribune, May 12, 1927,

" Mokler, 215; "Death of Ernest Evans," Natrona County Tri-
bune, Aug. 8, 1901, 1; "Scarf Caught in Wringer is Fatal to Aged
Casper Woman," Casper Daily Tribune, May 12, 1927. Edith
continued teaching, but in the primary grades from 1900 and 1901.
Mokler, 216-217.

■" "Death of Ernest Evans." In 1903 Trevor James Evans posed
for a portrait with a Casper photographer and William Custer
Nicolaysen was born on July 24th of that year.

"'' Tract Record Book, U. S. Land Office, Douglas, Wyoming,
Department of the Interior, 56; Anderson and Glass interview.

" Trevor Evans interviewed by Jefferson Glass, March, 1998.
The house is located at 484 Evans Street in Evansville, Wyo-
ming. Evans' great-great grandson, Trevor Evans, resides there.
During remodeling, the carriage house has been converted into a
garage, but it still looks very much the same as it did when it was
built more than ninety years ago.

■" Robert David manuscript.

■'" Casper Chronicles, 63.

'° Robert David manuscript. Two years later, on December 1,
1909, Gerald Clifford Nicolaysen was born, the seventh and last
child to P. C. and Clementina. Beach, 358.

-^' Wyoming State Business Directory, 1910-11, 159.

Autumn 1Q98

191 1, he was issued the patent on his homestead. Two
years later, he applied for a homestead patent on an
additional 160 acres adjoining his ranch.'- It was about
this period that Evans' occupation began appearing in
the directories as "rancher" instead of "stonemason."

In 1921, Evans at the age of sixty-nine, retired as a
mason and began living the life of a gentleman
rancher.^' He had built a large portion of the City of
Casper and helped it grow from a rough-hewn array of
assorted structures, plopped in the middle of a vast prai-
rie into a prosperous and organized business district,
surrounded by a pleasant and comfortable residential
neighborhood. He had lived in Casper nearly half of
his life. In the fall of 1 92 1 , he watched as the old City/
County jail was torn down. It had been one of the first
major structures he had built in his new home town.'"*

Casper was gaining increasing interest as an oil re-
fining town in 1 922 and Evans was about to partici-
pate in the growth. The Wyoming Refining Company
had previously purchased land to build a new refinery
adjacent to Evans' ranch, but for unknown reasons this
plan never materialized. The Texas Oil Company, plan-
ning a refinery near Glenrock, was also considering
the site east of Casper.

Speculating on the possibility that the Texas Com-
pany would build, Guaranteed Investment Company
of Casper negotiated a real estate venture with Evans
for portions of his land. On March 15, 1922, the firm
dedicated the town of Evansville, Wyoming, consist-
ing of 122 lots.-- The town was named for landowner,
pioneer contractor and rancher W. T. Evans.

The Texas Oil Company eventually agreed to locate
on the Evansville site but they needed more land than
was available with the Wyoming Refining property.
On July 7, 1922, the Evans Realty Company donated
the required 120 acres and on July 25, builders began
construction.'*' By July 29, the foundations for the stills
and the stacks were already in place, and it was noted
that construction would be rapid."

By August 10, 1922, all of the lots in Evansville were
sold and an additional 137 lots were platted. "** In Sep-
tember, the water company was incorporated, with
$ 1 00,000 in capital. Shortly after the refinery went into
operation, the company began providing gas utilities
to the public. By fall, all of the lots in the first addition
had been sold and 82 more lots were platted in a second
addition. '^

The named streets of Evansville at this time were
Texas, Williams, King, Evans, and Leavitt streets, all
running north and south. East/west streets were the
Yellowstone highway and First through Fifth streets.

In those days, the main street of Evansville was Evans
street. Most of the business district occupied both sides
of this street from the Yellowstone Highway to about
third street.*"" Late in 1922 several businesses already
had opened including the Evansville Garage and
Grocery, three pool-halls, three restaurants, two gro-
cery stores, a 'gentleman's furnishings' store, three
boarding houses, a furniture and hardware store, a sec-
ond-hand store, a barbershop, a lumber yard and a
church. Both railroads also expressed intentions of
erecting stations there.'''

The town's first school, held in the Baptist Church,
opened for classes on January 2, 1923. The next month,
the refinery first fired the stills, beginning to process
about 6,000 barrels of petroleum per day and w ith a
monthly payroll of about S60.000."-

By early 1923, the population of Evansville was 289
living in about sixty homes and shopping in twent\
businesses. The town had one church, electric lights,
telephones, and a modem water system."' On May 1 5,
1923, the Town of Evansville became an incorporated
municipality."'*

Less than nine months later, on February 3, 1924,
the town of Evansville was reported to have had a popu-
lation of 300. A reporter predicted that the population

" Tract Record Book. This new acreage was patented on Sep-
tember 15, 1916. He applied on June 11, 1913. Just a month ear-
lier, on May 3, 1913, his eldest grandson, Cecil Nicola>sen, died
at the age of 16. His eldest granddaughter, Beatrice, married
Neal .Avery Tyler on Dec. 31, 1916. Beach, 358.

"-' His ranch appeared on the first map drawn of Natrona
County. "Map of Natrona County, Wyoming," (Casper: Wheeler
and Worthington, Civil Engineers, 1921 ). The map is held in the
Natrona County Surveyor's office.

'-■ Mokler, 123,202a.

-"' "Guaranteed Investment Co. Is Big Bond House and Realty
Firm Here," Casper Sunday Morning Tribune, Julv 22, 1923.

=" Mokler, 256.

'' "Work Progressing on New Plant of Texas Oil Co.," Wyo-
ming Weekly Review and Natrona County Tribune. July 29, 1922,
5.

*» Mokler, 240.

'" Ibid.

''" Anderson and Glass, interview of William Trevor Evans.

"' Mokler, 241.

"- Mokler, 257.

''' Business and Professional Directoiy of Casper. Wyoming,
1923, 53-55. Some of the Evansville advertisers in the 1923 Cit\
Directory were Guaranteed Investment Company (Casper and
Evansville); the Tubbs Building ("centrally located in Evansville
First Class Restaurant & up to Date Pool Hall"), E.T. Foe Lum-
ber & Hardware Co.; American Cafe {".\t the Gate to the Texas
Refinery"); Evansville Garage; Roof's Cafe & Bakery; Beeman
Mercantile Co.; and F..H. Banta & Co., Real Estate.

" Ibid.

Annals o{ Wyoming:Tne Wyoming History Journal

soon would double."' This reporter's estimation of
growth was overly optimistic, but the town did grow.
Soon, the Evansville school was built. Without the sup-
port of the school district, however, it was forced to
close after about a decade.*'"

Archibald, Evans' son, started a sheep ranch on Cole
Creek, east of Evansville, in partnership with his
brother-in-law, P. C. Nicolaysen. In 1 926 he contracted
tick fever. While convalescing from the illness, he de-
veloped pneumonia and died that June."^ Less than a
vear later, Evans' wife Wealthy was killed in a most
unusual accident. On May 12, 1927, while she was
doing the family laundry, her shawl was caught in the
electric wringer of her washing machine. She had man-
aged to unplug the machine, but it was too late to stop
the momentum of the apparatus. She was strangled."*

On October 12, 1929, William Tranter Evans died in
his home in Evansville from natural causes. He was
seventy-seven years old. His obituary described him
as a wealthy Natrona County pioneer and contractor
who was instrumental in the building of Casper. Al-
though he was a member of a few organizations (in his
later years, he was a member of both the Elks and Moose
lodges of Casper), he was deeply involved in the Epis-
copal Church, serving as a vestryman of St. Mark's
most of his life."''

He was an avid big-game hunter and an exception-
ally accomplished bird hunter. He loved birds in gen-
eral. He imported a variety of European game birds
that he raised and periodically released on his ranch to
hunt. He raised ostriches—one of the first in this coun-
try to raise the exotic species.™ (See photograph of
Evans riding an ostrich, page 25).

He also liked to play tennis. This was a sport he prob-
ably had learned and enjoyed in Wales. When courts
were built in the Casper area, he took it up again."
Foremost in all of his activities, he built.

At the time W. T. Evans erected many of the struc-
tures in Casper, he probably never dreamed of the im-

pact such work would have on the Casper area com-
munity. Few people recognize history in the making.
He built the businesses, churches, schools and public
buildings. W.T. Evans was a builder of more than just
buildings. He built more than houses. He built homes
and a community.

^' "Mills and Evansville Prosper as a Result of Industry," Casper
Daily Tribune, Feb. 3, 1924, 7.

'"' The old schoolhouse that stood for many years on Curtis
street, was used as a Town Hall for some years, and hosted many
town dances. The building eventually began to deteriorate and,
finally, was condemned. Many residents tried to raise the money
needed to restore the old school, but were unsuccessful. The build-
ing was torn down in 1983. Anderson and Glass, interview of
William Trevor Evans; Joyce Hill, Evansville Town Clerk (re-
tired).

"' "Death Claims A. F. Evans. Old Resident Here," Casper Daily
Tribune, June 23, 1926, 4.

'' "Scarf Caught in Wringer is Fatal to Aged Casper Woman,"
Casper Daily Tribune, May 12, 1927. After a memorial service
in Casper, W.T., accompanied by (Clementina and Edith, took
her body to Hay Springs. Nebraska to be buried in her family
plot.

69 ,c^ J Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, succumbs," Casper
Tribune-Herald, Ocl. 13, 1929, 1-2.

™ Anderson and Glass, interview of William Trevor Evans.
There are no documents to indicate how successful this ostrich
venture might have been.

" "W. T. Evans, 77, Pioneer Contractor, Succumbs."

Jefferson Glass is chairman of the Evansville
Historical Commission. He recently began writ-
ing the biography of Jean Baptiste Richard
(JohnReshaw), 1810-1876, a prominent trader
on the North Platte for some 40 years. This ar-
ticle was written in commemoration of the 75th
anniversary of the Town of Evansville (May 15,
1998).

emovies c^ Q^Juomin^ ^
QfJana "^lau Qlson

eacnev

The following is a transcript of a presen-
tation made by Wana Clay Olson, a long-
time Albany Count\' educator. At the age of
100. she was the oldest presenter at the
American Heritage Center 's seventh annual
symposium in September. 1998.

Titled "Schoolmarms and Scholars:
Women Educators of the American West. "
the conference included discussions about the
lives and careers of Dr. Grace Raymond
Hebard. Wvoming historian and long-time
UWfacult\' member, and June Etta Downey,
a UW psychology professor for many years.
Dr. Glenda Riley, noted western historian,
gave the keynote address on "Women Edu-
cators Civilizing the West. "

A symposium highlight was the panel of
retired Albany County school teachers, in-
cluding Olson, Eva Bradshaw and Eunice
Foster, reminiscing about their many expe-
riences.

Education was originally a family affair. Children
were taught at home by a family member to read, write,
spell and cipher, now known as arithmetic. This is the
way it was until a professional teacher was employed
and a school was built.

I was bom and raised near the town of Canton in
northeast Missouri. The first organized school in our
community was the Allen School. Many descendants
of the family attended including my generation of Mill-
ers and Schraders.

My uncle, Jody Miller, who was bom in 1862, at-
tended Allen School. This one- room log cabin had
seats made from logs which were split and smoothed
and the school was heated with wood. The schoolyard
was a wonderful playground with no playground equip-
ment at all.

There was no course of study so most of the students
studied what they wanted. Jod\ Miller leamed all the
mathematics available but not as much spelling and
grammar.

When my brother, Wayne, and 1 started to school
about 1905, the Missouri schools were not standard-
ized which means there were no first, second, or third
grades. Rather, we went by the "Reader". If you used a
certain book during your fifth year you said, "I am in
the Fifth Reader" not the fifth grade.

Wayne and 1 attended Allen School for eight years.
We had two teachers during that time that had attended
a school of higher leaming. After completing all the
Readers at the Allen School there was talk of us going
to Canton to high school. It was decided Wayne and I
were too young to go to Canton to high school to be
entirely on our own for weeks and weeks at a time.
With only horse-drawn vehicles, a trip to Canton was
usually a two-day ride.

It was finally decided that we should go to the Pro\ i-
dence School several miles \\ est w here Mr. Lemon was
a teacher well-qualified to teach high school subjects. 1
remember Ancient Historv, Civics. Ad\anced Arith-
metic, and English. We had a great year but when we
went to Canton High School the following year, no
credit was given for our year's work as these classes
were not certified by Canton High School.

As teacher training had been established at Canton
High, I was so happy to enter the classes for we were
assured we would qualify for teaching the next year. I
completed the classwork and began teaching our own
Allen School September 1, 1918, when I was twenty
years old. Seventeen children enrolled, including
Freddie, Emma, and Ella, my younger brother and sis-
ters.

It was during this first year of teaching that my fam-
ily moved to Wyoming. I was unable to travel with
them as I had to finish my term so 1 moved to a
neighbor's to board and room until school was out. 1
arrived in Wyoming the middle of June, 1919.

Annals of Wyoniing:The Wyoming History Journal

Wana Clav Olson, author of this article, is pictured in front, seated. This article is a transcript of her presentation
at the American Heritage Center symposium in September. Other panelists were retired teachers Eva Bradshaw
(left) and Eunice Foster (right). Session moderator was Dr. Andrew Gulliford (center), author and history profes-
sor in Tennessee, who is a specialist on the history of rural schools in the West.

A turning point in Wyoming education was when
State Representative John A. Stephenson of Tie Sid-
ing introduced a bill allocating a percentage of the
Wyoming oil dollars to education. When this bill
passed, teacher salaries raised immediately from $50
to $100 a month and "people began coming to Wyo-
ming by the herds." Like myself, some teachers were
not adequately prepared, so to become eligible for the
Wyoming position, I went to summer school at the
University of Wyoming and began my career in Wyo-
ming education in the fall of 1919.

My first teaching experience was probably made
unique because of the bedbugs. The position was on a
ranch forty miles northwest of Laramie, near Quealy
Dome. The conditions here were so bad that other teach-
ers refused to take a position there.

The kids hadn't had school for two years and the
place looked so forlorn. The children peeped around at
me like rabbits.

The school and teacher quarters were in an old log
two-room bunk house. The building wasn't too bad —
the bed had been freshly made and the cabin had been
well swept. (I even remember what I wore... my new
blue serge suit bound with satin piping. It was lovely
but not exactly appropriate for country school teach-
ing). 1 unpacked my trunk and hung up my beautiful
new clothes.

I met the lady of the house and visited with my new
pupils. When someone said, "Don't let the bedbugs
bite," I hurried back to my quarters to learn that indeed
there were bedbugs — not only in the bed, but in my
dresses, corsets, and the new blue serge suit. That first
night I slept with the fifteen-year old daughter and the
bed bugs bit all night. I kept thinking about that beau-
tifiil new suit hanging against the wall.

The bitter winter cold got rid of most of them just as
it froze the water in the bedside bowl and pitcher.

We held school from 9 a.m. -4 p.m., and I stayed seven

Autumn 1998

months. I was a very, very demanding teacher. "That
old woman would just kill you if you missed a word,"
I remember one of the children saying. We did one and
a half years of school in that seven- month period.

And for that I received a salary of $90 a month, from
which I paid the parents of the family I was teaching
$45 in board and room. They fed me antelope and po-
tatoes and when 1 complained about the food to my
Dad, he said, "You look all right to me."

In those days it was often impossible to get to town
for months. Teachers were not willing to sign contracts
to live the good part of a year in isolation. The main
attraction of ranches was to meet and marry a cowboy.
There was a ranch party where, as the new teacher, I
was welcomed with blasts from shotguns and where
everyone danced until daylight.

In the country school, a part of my contract was the
janitorial work: sweeping, dusting up the classroom,
and scrubbing the outhouse. Also, before the children
arrived in the morning, I would get the heater going
but we often studied together huddled in our coats.

After my first teaching position near Quealy Dome,
I returned to Missouri to marry my high school sweet-
heart, Carroll Clay, and raise a family. Following his
early death, I returned to Wyoming with four boys in
the fall of 1 927 only to discover that teacher qualifica-
tions had doubled. My mother assisted in the care of

my four boys in order that I might resume my educa-
fion. I attended University classes and after much ef-
fort and determination, received my Normal Diploma
or two-year certificate in the fall of 1932. This is also
the year that I was elected County Superintendent of
Schools, an office I held until 1936. It would be ten
years after this time that I proudly finished my four-
year college degree.

Teaching in the country' schools, whether then or now,
is a challenging and rewarding occupation. One has to
be versatile, tough, creative.

At one country school, I developed a simple hot lunch
program. I told all of my pupils to bring what canned
vegetables they could, mixed it together, stoked up the
pot-bellied stove and we had a good stew every noon.
If times were hard, it was bean soup but always with a
bit of side pork and onion.

Thirty-nine of my 100 years has been devoted to edu-
cation. And it all started with that small, log building,
Allen School. From a small country school teacher to
the County Superintendent of Schools to the Director
of Special Education to classroom teaching-l have been
and always will be a teacher. Some of those years was
like a good stew and some was bean soup. But it is a
journey I will always cherish.

— Wana Clav Olson

If you have a "Wyoming memoiy" you would
like to share with Annals readers, contact Phil
Roberts, Annals of Wyoming. Department of
History, University of Wyoming, Laramie WY
82071. A 'first-hand" account for inclusion
in this feature requires no footnoting or par-
ticular writing style, but must he a non-fiction
story with a Wyoming connection. Submissions
should be no longer than six typewritten pages,
typed double-spaced.

Thomas Harrison and

the Search for Oil in
North^rest Wyoming,

1908-1916

By Mike Mackey

On November 14, 1908, Thomas S. Harrison wan-
dered into Oregon Basin eight miles southeast of
Cody, Wyoming. Harrison's job as an Inspector of
Mines for the General Land Office in Cheyenne was to
inspect the coal mine and Carey Act irrigation project
of Solon Wiley. His true love, however, was the
science of geology and its use in petroleum
exploration. In that field he would make a career and
national reputation. Oregon Basin would play a key
role in that career.

Harrison, bom in Evansville, Indiana, on August 27,
1881, attended Indiana University at Bloomington
from 1900 to 1902 before deciding to move west to
continue his studies in Colorado.' He completed his
undergraduate work at Denver University in 1904 and
received his engineering degree from the Colorado
School of Mines at Golden in 1908." While attending
the School of Mines, Harrison worked the summer
months of 1905 and 1906 as a tool dresser on a cable-

tool rig near Florence, Colorado. Harrison admitted
that he was perhaps, "the world's worst tool dresser."^
But working in the oil fields gave Harrison some
practical experience to go along with his schooling. It
was during that time that he had often heard the Stock
brothers, who were drilling near Florence, discussing
the rumors of new oil prospects in Wyoming." Such
talk contributed to Harrison's interest in Wyoming and
the possibility that he may locate some important oil
fields himself.

' Thomas Harrison diary for 1908, Thomas S. Harrison
Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
(here after cited as THC). Casper Tribune-Herald, March 31.
1957.

^ Biography of Thomas S. Harrison, Ed N. Harrison Collection,
Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, Camarillo,
California.

' Thomas S. Harrison, "Oil and Gas Prospects in the Rockies,"
The Mines Magazine, September 1944, 490.

' Ibid., 490.

The "Cliffs Ranch" in Oregon Basin, 1910.

Autumn 1998

In June of 1908, shortly after graduating from the
School of Mines, Thomas Harrison accepted a position
with the Department of the Interior's General Land
office in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His job of inspecting
coal mines and irrigation projects, gave Harrison the
opportunity to carry out geological studies in the field
while traveling throughout the state. In October of

1908 Harrison left Cheyenne on his first trip to the Big
Horn Basin in northwest Wyoming. Traveling north
fi-om Thermopolis, Harrison passed through Grass
Creek and Little Buffalo Basin on his way to Cody. In
mid-November he visited the Wiley ranch at Oregon
Basin and inspected S. L. Wiley's coal mine and
irrigation project. It was also on this trip that Harrison
met Wiley's daughter Ruth.' He was unaware at the
time, but the Wiley ranch in Oregon Basin would be the
site where he would start his family and where he
would initiate his search for oil in Wyoming.

After completing his inspections in Oregon Basin,
Harrison returned to Cheyenne. Shortly after arriving
at the capital, he decided to take a Civil Service exam
in an effort to secure a better paying position with the
government. Early in 1909, after successfully passing
the exam, Thomas Harrison was promoted and named
Mineral Inspector in Wyoming. He noted in his diary
that the new position provided "an experience with
Wyoming geology . . . of tremendous value.""

Harrison's first assignment as mineral inspector in

1909 was in the Salt Creek oil field north of Casper
where Joseph H. Lobell was trying to persuade the
United States government to set aside a square block of
land, 100 miles by 100 miles with Salt Creek at its
center, for oil exploration.^ Lobell, a somefime lawyer
and all-time promoter, was described by historian Gene
Gressley as "one of the most contriving charlatans ever
to enter the Salt Creek locale."* In 1907 Lobell sold
placer claims, filed over numerous other claims on the
same ground, to a Dutch investment group. In August
1908 the Dutch company, Wyoming Maatschappij,
hired James and Hugh "Daddy" Stock to drill a well at
Salt Creek. Dr. Cesare Porro, a famous Italian
geologist, chose the location. On October 16, 1908,
while Harrison was making his way toward the Big
Horn Basin, the Stock's brought in the "Big Dutch"
well with oil gushing over the crown of the drilling rig.'

By the time Harrison arrived at Salt Creek in April of
1909, the Lobell problem had solved itself Once the
Dutch well was brought in and Lobell fully realized the
oil producing potential of the area, he tried to gain
control of the field and the surrounding land with
government approval. However, tiring of Lobell's
maneuvering, Wyoming Maatschappij bought out

Lobell's stock and released him from his financial
indebtedness. Lobell walked away with more than
$100,000 in cash but spent the next decade bringing
suit against nearly every company which carried out
exploration work in the Salt Creek area.'"

Even though the Lobell problem had been solved,
Harrison's trip to Salt Creek was not wasted. During
his time at Salt Creek, Harrison asked numerous
questions concerning the Dutch well and made an
exhaustive geological study of the area. He compared
the area to the geologic formations he had seen six
months earlier at Grass Creek, Little Buffalo Basin,
and, particularly, Oregon Basin. With so many
similarities, Harrison was sure there was a strong
possibility of finding oil at the latter locations. At the
Dutch well, oil seeped fi-om the ground in a fifty-foot
radius around it. Oil from the well flowed into a pit
each day to relieve the pressure." Such a oil strike
fueled Harrison's excitement of the oil possibilities in
the Big Horn Basin.

Following his observations at Salt Creek, Harrison
wrote to S. L. Wiley at the Cliffs Ranch in Oregon
Basin. Wiley's backers in the Oregon Basin irrigation
project were getting nervous about the rising costs and
some were backing out. Harrison was concerned that
Wiley might give up and return to the family home in
Omaha, Nebraska. With that in mind, Harrison wrote a
letter encouraging Wiley to hold on to the Oregon
Basin property. Harrison wrote that he was sure oil
would be discovered there. He even outlined for Wiley
the proper procedure for filing placer claims. Harrison
did not want his name listed on any claims filed since
it would cause a conflict of interest with his position as

■' Harrison diary for 1908, THC. Thomas Harrison affidavit,
Charles W. Burdick collection (CBC), American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming.

"■ Harrison diaries for 1908 and 1909, THC.

' Harrison diaries for 1908 and 1909, THC. Thomas S.
Harrison, "The Oil and Gas Record Within the Rocky Moun-
tains," Oil Reporter, December 25, 1945, 3. Harrison affidavit,
CBC.

' Gene M. Gressley, The Twentieth-Century American West: A
Potpourri (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1977), 51.

' Gressley, 59-65. Harrison, "The Oil and Gas Record," 3.
Harold D. Roberts, Salt Creek Wyoming: The Story of a Great Oil
Field {Demer: W. H. Kistler Stationery Company. 1965), 35-39.
Mike Mackey, Black Gold: Patterns in the Development of
Wyoming's Oil Industry (Powell: Western History Publications,
1997), 17-29. Wilson O. Clough, "Portrait in Oil: The Belgo
American Company in Wyoming," Annals of Wyoming, (April
1969), 30.

'" Harrison diary for 1909, THC. Gressley, Twentieth-Century
American West, 64-65. Harrison, "Oil and Gas Prospects," 491.

" Harrison diaries for 1909, THC. Harrison, "Oil and Gas
Prospects," 491.

Annals of Wyoming:Tke Wyoming Histor)' Journal

Minerals Inspector, however, he said he saw "no reason
why 1 might not at some future time accept, as a reward
of appreciation, a position. "'-

It was also at Salt Creek that Harrison was made
aware of a problem which would plague Wyoming's
oil industry for another forty-three years. While in
Casper, on a trip to town from the field, Harrison met a
young man named Emery, the son of a Pennsylvania oil
producer. Emery had traveled to Wyoming to
investigate the stories of the Dutch well and inspect
Salt Creek for possible development by his father.
Harrison asked the young man's opinion of the field.
Emery said he "was going back ... to report to his
father that never had he seen so much oil in an
undeveloped area, but to advise him to have nothing to
do with it."'^ Harrison was somewhat confused until
the young man pointed out that the field was fifty miles
from the nearest railroad and that even if a pipeline
were built to Casper and a refinery constructed in that
town, there was no market for the oil in the entire
Rocky Mountain region.''*

Harrison had no response to Emery's comments.
The young man was correct. As early as 1 889 a group
of investors from Pennsylvania led by Phillip M.
Shannon had moved into the Salt Creek area. The
Shannon group drilled and completed a number of
wells on the northern edge of what became the Salt
Creek field. In 1 894 the investors constructed a refinery
in Casper, the first in Wyoming, and in 1 895, the group
incorporated as the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas
Company. The oil from the Shannon field, as it became
known, was hauled to the refinery in Casper using
"string teams" (wagons loaded with barrels of oil
pulled by twelve to eighteen horses). The refined
product was sold to a number of railroads operating in
the area for lubrication purposes. This small and
limited market was all that kept the Pennsylvania
Company operating. In 1904, with Wyoming's total oil
production at only 7,000 barrels per year. Shannon sold
his refinery and oil holdings to Joseph H. Lobell."

By 1 905 the Wyoming Labor Journal was asking
what was wrong with Wyoming's oil industry. The
Journal explained that there was nothing wrong with
the industry in the state other than the fact that it was
being controlled by the Union Pacific Railroad and,
more importantly, by Standard Oil. The author of the
article believed that Standard was deliberately holding
down production in Wyoming until a time in the future
when it would need the state's oil. The truth was that
Standard had little or no interest in Wyoming's oil
potential at that time. The great "octopus" had begun

loosing control of the petroleum industry several years
earlier with new oil discoveries being made in Kansas,
Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. This resulted in the
establishment of other powerful oil companies such as
Gulf Phillips Petroleum and the Texas Company. The
editors of the Wyoming Industrial Journal could have
easily answered the question, "what is the matter with
Wyoming's oil industry," by reading its' own pages.
The Wyoming Oil and Development Company, which
had drilled a number of wells near Douglas between
1904 and 1906, was using its oil in the manufacture of
a product known as "Douglas Dip." The Dip was
supposed to kill parasites and the diseases they carried
or caused. "* Wyoming Oil and Development could find
no other local use for its oil. Young Emery's
assessment of markets and transportation for oil
produced in Wyoming at that time was correct.

In spite of Emery's comments on the lack of a market
for Wyoming's oil in general and Salt Creek oil in
particular, Harrison was not dissuaded from continuing
his own work as far as making comparative analyses of
geologic structures in the Big Horn Basin to those he
studied at Salt Creek. Prior to leaving Salt Creek
Harrison made the acquaintance of Septimus A. Lane,
who was superintendent for the British-owned,
International Drilling Trust, the company which the
Dutch had contracted with to drill at Salt Creek." In

'- Jeannie Cook, Wiley's Dream of Empire: The Wiley Irriga-
tion Project (Cody: Yellowstone Printing and Publisliing, 1990),
86.

" Harrison. "Oil and Gas Prospects." 491.

'^/Wc/., 491.

'^ T. A. Larson, Histoiy of Wyoming (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1978), 300-01. Alfred James Mokler, History of
Natrona Count}' Wyoming 1888-1922 (Chicago: The Lakeside
Press, 1923), 245-48. Roy A. Jordan and S. Bren DeBoer,
Wyoming.A Source Book (Niwot: University Press of Colorado,
1996), 161. Minute Book, 1-3, Pennsylvania Oil and Gas
Company, Midwest Oil Company collection (MOC), Box 7,
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. William T.
Sullins, "The History of the Salt Creek Oil Field" (master's thesis.
University of Wyoming, 1954), 1-6. Mackey, Black Cold. 5-12.
Roberts, So// O-ee/t, 18-22.

"■ "Hot Air vs. Oil Claims," The Wyoming Industrial Journal,
July 1905, 15-16. J. Leonard Bates, The Origins of Teapot Dome:
Progressives, Parties, and Petroleum. 1909-1921 (Urbana: Uni-
versity of Illinois Press, 1963), 16. Gerald D. Nash, United States
Oil Policy 1890-1964: Business and Government in Twentieth
Centuiy America (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press,
1968), 8. Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil,
Money & Power (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991), 94-95.
"Douglas, the State Fair City, Twenty Years Old and Ripe for
Numerous Industries," The Wyoming Labor Journal, September
1909, 6.

" Mackey, Black Gold, 17-18. Roberts, Sah Creek, 35-39.

Autumn 1998

time Lane's connections at Salt Creek would become
the source of financing for Harrison's future
exploration projects.

After leaving Salt Creek in late April, 1 909, Harrison
returned to the Big Horn Basin carrying out inspection
work at Greybull and Byron. Harrison met Sid
Koughan in Byron at what is known today as the
Garland oil field. Koughan recently had moved rotary
drilling equipment from Texas to the Garland tleld.
When Harrison arrived at Byron, Koughan was in the
process of converting his rotary rig into a standard, or
cable-tool rig. Even though the discovery well at
Spindletop in Texas had been brought in with rotary
equipment eight years earlier, in 1901, the rotary
drilling bits of the day were no match for the hard sands
ofthe Rocky Mountain formations."* Harrison said that
"the rotary fish tail bit . . . would not cut the Cretaceous
Pierre shales."'" It took the pounding of a 1,500 to
3,000-pound bit and tools of a cable-tool rig to break
through the formations in the Rocky Mountains.
Harrison noted that more than one drilling contractor
went broke trying to use rotary equipment in Wyoming
during those early years.-"

After leaving Byron Harrison returned to Oregon
Basin where he stayed at Wiley's Cliffs Ranch and
carried out fiirther geologic studies of structures in that

area. He also spent a good deal of time with Wiley's
daughter Ruth, and on July 13. 1909, became engaged
to her. After leaving Oregon Basin and returning to
Cheyenne, Harrison continued making comparisons of
the various geological structures he had observed. He
also studied the work of others who had preceded him
to Oregon Basin. Geologist C. A. Fisher had mapped a
portion ofthe Oregon Basin structure prior to 1906
while working for the United States Geological Survey
(USGS). Geologist Chester W. Washburn had
mentioned the oil possibilities in that area in a bulletin
published in 1907.-' By late August of 1909 Harrison,

"^ Harrison diaries for 1*50'), THC. Cook, ll'iley's Dream of
Empire, 86-87. Yergin. 82-86. Harold F. Williamson, The
American Petroleum Industry The Age of Energy IS99-1959
(E\anston: Northwestern University Press, 1963). 29-32.

'" Harrison, "Oil and Gas Prospects," 49 K

-"Ibid., 491. For an explanation of cable-tool rigs and how the\
operated see, Charles A. Whiteshot. The Oil H'ell Driller A
HisloiT of the World's Greatest Enterprize. the Oil Industn
(Morgantown. WV: The Acme Publishing Company, 1905). 75-
77. Roswell H. Johnson and L. G. Huntley, Principles of Oil and
Gas Production (New York: .lames Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1916).
114-19.

-' Harrison diaries for 1909, THC. Mackey, Black Gold, 33.
Thomas Harrison, "The Oregon Basin Oil Field, Wyoming," 1-
11, Box 24, CBC.

Field Division employees ofthe Government Land Office. Cheyenne, in 1908. Thomas Harrison is in the back
row, standing, second from right.

Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

in a letter to his fiiture in-laws, said, "The State
Geologist and myself have pronounced the area there
(Oregon Basin) as offering unusual prospects to the
seeker of oil."--

Harrison continued his work as Mineral Inspector
until early in 1910 at which time he resigned his
position to marry Ruth Wiley. Thomas Harrison and
Ruth Wiley were married on February 23, 1910.
Following a honeymoon in Mexico City, the
Harrison's returned to the Cliffs Ranch in Oregon
Basin where Thomas tried his hand at fanning and
ranching. Though he made a concerted effort, and even
went so far as to study soil samples in an attempt to
improve crops, Harrison's heart was not in farming. In
addition, he did not see how anyone could make a
living at it.--*

While doing his best to become a farmer and rancher,
Harrison was continuing to carry out his studies of the
geology at Oregon Basin. He also kept abreast of what
was going on outside of Wyoming. The automobile
was increasing in popularity while at the same time
becoming more affordable. In 1910, for the first time in
history, gasoline had surpassed kerosene in total sales
in the United States. Petroleum products were no
longer being used primarily for illumination and as
cleaning solvents and lubricants. They were becoming
an important source of fuel. Not only was the
automobile a factor, there was talk of converting ships
and trains from coal burners to oil burners.-'* In spite of
having no local market for oil produced in Wyoming,
Harrison could see that technology was creating a
global market and an increase in demand for petroleum
products.

Early in 1911 Harrison contacted S. A. Lane at Salt
Creek and explained the situation at Oregon Basin.
The Oregon Basin anticline, he said, contained two
separate domes and was approximately thirteen miles
in length, running north and south, and four to five
miles in width. It fell within the Townships of 50, 51
and 52, Range 100 W, and Township 5 1, Range 101 W.
Harrison was sure that oil could be found in great
quantity. However, he did not have the financial means
to purchase drilling equipment and pay the number of
men who would be required to carry out a major
drilling program. Harrison explained to Lane that he
would survey the Oregon Basin structure and locate
and file placer claims if Lane would attempt to interest
a company in carrying out the drilling and accepting the
financial burden for the project. In return for his help,
Harrison would list Lane as one of the locators and
make him a partner.-^

During the spring of 191 1 Harrison began surveying
the Oregon Basin structure using his past experiences
and knowledge of geology to choose what he believed
would be the most promising locations to drill for oil.
Though he had confidence in his abilities, Harrison had
to involve S. A. Lane in the project for another reason.
Harrison's own drilling experience was limited to two
summers of work in Florence, Colorado, in an
established field. In addition, the usefulness of geology
itself was only slowly and grudgingly being accepted
in the oil industry. The importance of anficlines to oil
exploration was beginning to be accepted by practical
oil men by the late 1800's. Most experienced oil men
believed that they could locate an anticline as easily as
a geologist. The few companies that' did employ
geologists at that time did so on a part-time basis.-*
Having a practical oil man like Lane as a partner or
locator would give his project legitimacy in the eyes of
prospective investors.

Through the spring and summer Harrison carried on
his surveying work and marked his location claims
across Oregon Basin. The placer mining law, under
which petroleum exploration fell until the passage of
the Oil and Gas Leasing Act in 1920, stated that an
individual could file a claim on twenty acres of federal
land. An association of eight individuals could file on
160 acres of land per claim. Harrison filed all of his
Oregon Basin claims under associations made up of
himself, his wife, father-in-law, a few relatives, S. A.
Lane and E. Erben, the latter two being experienced oil
men. Once a claim was filed, the individual or
associafion was required to drill a well, or in lieu of
drilling, timber a shaft of at least twenty feet in depth.
This work was required to be of at least $100 in value.
Once a total of $500 in improvements had been made
and a commercial show of oil found, the locator could
pay the $2.50 per acre purchase price and file for patent
on the land. Harrison completed his surveying and
assessment work and filed his claims, covering nearly
13,000 acres in Oregon Basin, at the Park County
Court House in Cody on November 17, 1911.-^

-- Cook, Wiley's Dream of Empire, 87.

-^ Harrison diaries for 1910 and 1911, THC. Cook, Wiley's
Dream of Empire, 86-89.

-' Yergin, 111, 152-57. Nash, United States Oil Policy, 4-8.

-- Harrison diaries for 1911, THC. Cook, Wiley's Dream of
Empire, 87-89. Mackey, Black Gold, 34.

-" Harrison diaries for 191 1, THC. Mackey, Black Gold, 34-35.
Whiteshot, The Oil Well Driller, 814. Edgar Wesley Owen, Trek
of the Oil Finders: A History of Exploration for Petroleum (Tulsa:
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1975), 61-
64.

Autumn 1998

With Harrison busy surveying and filing claims.
Lane pitched the Oregon Basin exploration idea to his
employers. Though Lane had originally worked for the
International Drilling Trust, when he was contacted by
Harrison in 1911 he was employed by the Franco
Wyoming Company at Salt Creek. This organization
was made up of a group of wealthy French investors
from Paris. In September of 1909 the French group
purchased the bankrupt Belgian Belgo, a company that
Joseph H. Lobell was involved with and had bled dry,
and incorporated the new Franco Wyoming Company
under the laws of the state of Delaware.-'* P. E. de
Caplane was a chief stockholder and the treasurer of the
Franco Wyoming Company. Caplane was interested in
the Oregon Basin proposal and agreed to be the main
source of financing for the project.-''

In December of 191 1 S. A. Lane escorted several of
the French investors to the Cliffs Ranch in Oregon
Basin to meet with Harrison and go over plans for
developing the field. The type and amount of
equipment needed was discussed as was the money
situation. All seemed to be proceeding smoothly when,
during the first week of January, 1912, Mr. Philippot,

Caplane's representative in Wyoming, told Harrison he
did not want to proceed with the drilling program or the
ordering of equipment until he could meet with the
investors in Paris. Harrison sent a telegram to Lane
expressing his concern over any delays.'" He did not
want to insult or infuriate Philippot, but as Harrison
explained to Lane, "1 want someone to operate here and
as soon as possible for this is a great field, I believe, and
I fear someone else may come in.""

-' Harrison diaries for 1911, THC. Mackey, Black Cold, 2.
Bates, The Origins of Teapot Dome, 18-19, Samuel W. Tait, The
Wildcatters: An Informal Histoiy of Oil-Hunttng in America
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946), 165-6(i. Harrison
oil claims records, Park County Court House. Cody Wyoming.
Park Count}' Enterprise. November 18, 1911.

-' For a detailed explanation of the corporate chaos during the
early years at Salt Creek, see "The French, Belgians and Dutch
Arrive at Salt Creek," in Gressley's, The Twentieth-Century
American West.

-'A. C. Campbell to stockholders, December 27, 1912, Bo.x 16,
CBC. Harrison diaries for 1911 and 1912, THC. "Acquisitions of
Lands in the Salt Creek Field," Box 12, CBC.

™ Harrison diaries for 191 1 and 1912, THC.

■'' Harrison to Lane. January 7, 1912, Box 39, CBC.

Visitors arriving at Wiley's home called "The Cliffs " in Oregon Basin, 1910.

Annals ot WyomingiTne Wyoming History Jour

During the time period in wiiich Harrison waited for
w ord to proceed, he received his leases and permission
to drill from the Commissioner of Public Lands in
Cheyenne. He also located additional leases in the area
and began searching for drilling equipment locally. By
the end of January the French investors had chosen a
new representative for the Oregon Basin project, Pierre
Humbert, and wired $2,100 to Harrison for the
purchase of building materials. As mid-February
approached, Harrison notified Humbert that he had
spoken to a sales representative who would sell two
new "23 Star" portable drilling rigs to them for $2,400
each. These rigs, though limited to drilling only twelve
to thirteen hundred feet deep, could be moved from
location to location by string team. In addition to
locating the rigs, Harrison and his crews had nearly
completed the construction of "Camp No. 1." The
camp consisted of a 10x1 6-foot bunk house and a
26x1 6-foot kitchen and dining room."

In late Februar}' two Star rigs had been shipped from
Akron, Ohio, and two standard rigs with three steel
derricks had been shipped from Pittsburgh. Most
drilling operations in Wyoming in 1912 constructed
wooden derricks for each well to be drilled. However,
the new steel derrick could be dismantled and moved to

the next location in a short period of time. Nine storage
tanks and several thousand feet of cable also had been
shipped to Oregon Basin. Harrison placed an order for
casing and sent an application to the State Engineer's
Office in Cheyenne for permission to expand the size of
the nearby Sage Creek Reservoir.'-' Water was a
necessity in drilling wells. It was used in the drilling
process to remove debris from the hole and to supply
the boilers of steam engines which powered the rigs.
With plans to run four rigs simultaneously, the current
capacity of the reservoir was insufficient.

On March 14, 1912, Harrison received $2,500 to
cover additional expenses. It was also on that date that
six of the storage tanks arrived. Two days later one of
the Star rigs arrived in Cody; the second followed two
days later.''' With the arrival of new equipment and
flinds, Harrison was getting anxious to begin drilling.
He told Lane, "We have moved the contents of the first

^- Hopkins to Harrison, Januarx' 16, 1912; Harrison to Lane,
January 27, 1912; Harrison to Humbert, February 5, 1912, Box
39, CBC.

" Humbert to Harrison, February 26, 1912; Harrison to Lane,
March 2, 1912; Harrison to Humbert, March 7. 1912; Humbert to
Harrison, March 7, 1912, Bo.x 39, CBC.

'■" Harrison to Humbert, March 10, 1912; Harrison to Lane,
March 14, 1912, Box 39, CBC.

Thomas Harrison (third from left) poses with drilling crew at Oregon Basin. 1912.

Autumn 1998

three cars to the ranch. The boys and horses have
worked under the very worst conditions—in storms,
zero weather and snow, but have done the work without
much kicking and without undue urging on my part."'"
The weather was ail that was holding Harrison back.

By April they began hiring driUing crews. Drillers
would be paid five dollars per day plus board and tool
dressers four dollars a day plus board. Harrison had
received a power of attorney from the other locators in
his associations of eight so that he could sign leases
with the French investors when the time came. He
would also have to refile the claims he posted at the
coimty court house in Cody the previous year because
it had been more than five months since the original
filing and no drilling had yet taken place. Once the
drilling program was under way it would be a busy
season. Discovery wells containing a commercial show
of oil would have to be drilled on every claim filed. For
that reason. Lane informed Harrison, Humbert wanted
to run two towers on both of the Star rigs and the two
standard rigs.^*'

Toward the end of April Harrison was eager to get
started, however, rain and snow had kept his roads in a
constant state of disrepair. It had been impossible to
haul water to the drilling locations by wagon. With the
passing of more time and no change in the weather,
Harrison and his men began laying water lines from
Sage Creek Reservoir to the drilling locations. One of
the Star rigs was able to begin drilling on April 25,
1912. Three days later, on April 28, there was a show
of oil on the Hallene well at a depth of 236 feet.^^ Two
deep test wells were to be drilled once the standard rigs,
drilling tools and crews arrived in the field.

During the early summer months Harrison was made
manager of the French operation at Oregon Basin. By
late June the first standard rig arrived and on July 1 5 on
the SW quarter of Section 32, Township 51 N., Range
100 W., the McMahon well, the first deep test, was
spudded in. A short time later, Caplane arrived at
Oregon Basin to inspect the operation he was
financing. Harrison and Caplane went over the field
and the paper work pertaining to the project. Noting
that discovery wells had been drilled and affidavits
filled out attesting to the presence of oil, Harrison
refiled his original eighty claims at the Park County
Court House in Cody.^**

As drilling continued on the McMahon well,
Caplane and his family toured Yellowstone Park. On
August 22, at a depth of 1,305 feet drilling on the
McMahon well was halted due to a large flow of gas
estimated at approximately 10,000,000 cubic feet per

day. Three days later Caplane and his family returned
from Yellowstone as the driller, Hesslin, at the
McMahon location was trying to push through the gas
bearing strata. The day's drilling resulted in deepening
the well by only three feet as the gas blew rocks and dirt
fifty feet into the air. Caplane wanted the well capped
and a new well drilled at another location. The drilling
was stopped. Harrison was disappointed. He noted in
his report that they had succeeded in penetrating only
the first seventy-five feet of the gas bearing sand.
Harrison believed there was another 150 feet in the
strata and that the bottom thirty feet was the most
promising as far as oil was concerned.'"

Harrison met with C. M. Edgett, his assistant
manager in the field, and driller Hesslin to discuss the
possibility of deepening the McMahon well. Much to
the relief of the drilling crew, Hesslin decided he could
not drill the well any deeper. During the last days of
August Harrison and Edgett made a number of
geological studies to detemiine where the next deep
well should be drilled. A site was chosen on the
southeast quarter of Section 5, Township 5 1 N., Range
100 W., on what was known as the Pauline claim.
Work began in early September in preparation for
drilling. In the mean time, with the McMahon
discovery, management felt that all claims should be
clearly posted with affidavits of discovery affixed to
the comer posts. ^"

On September 4, 1912, the French investors filed
articles of incorporation for the Enalpac Oil and Gas
Company in Cheyenne. Enalpac (the reverse spelling
of Caplane) established its main office in Casper where
other companies owned by the French group
(Wyoming Oil Fields Company, Natrona Pipe Line
and Refining Company and Franco Wyoming Oil
Company) were located. The president of Enalpac was
Cheyenne attorney Charles W. Burdick. Vice-
president was Casper attorney A. C. Campbell with W.
D. Waltman serving as the manager of all the French

'' Harrison to Lane, March i8, 1912, Box 39, CBC.

'" Lane to Harrison, April 9, 1912, Bo.x 39, CBC.

" Harrison to Lane, April 25. 1912; Harrison to Humbert, April
26, 1912, Box 39, CBC. Drilling record for 1912. Box 12, CBC.

'" Harrison diaries for 1912, THC. Victor Ziegler, "The Oregon
Basin Gas and Oil Field," Bulletin No. 15, State Geologist's
Office, 1917, 236. Records of the County Clerk, Park County
Court House.

" Harrison to Waltman, August 26 and 31, 1912, Box 25, CBC.
C. M. Edgett diary for August 1912. THC. Thomas Harrison
diaries for 1912, THC.

■'" Harrison to Waltman, August 3 1 and September 7. 1912, Box
25, CBC.

Annals of Wyoming :The Wyoming History Journal

owned companies in Wyoming. Two months earlier, in
July, the Overland Oil Company had been incorporated
and was operating in Oregon Basin. Overland Oil was
also financed by Caplane and his French partners.'"

By late September the McMahon well was leaking
badly after being temporarily plugged a month earlier.
With his other drillers busy on the Pauline well, and
unsure of how to deal with the McMahon well,
Harrison hired his acquaintance from Byron, Sid
Koughan, to run casing in the Mcmahon well and cap
it. Koughan had experience with gas wells in Texas
and Louisiana and with the help of his two assistants,
he was able to seal the McMahon well by early
October. In the meantime Harrison was having
problems with the Pauline well and his drillers. One
driller, McCune, left Oregon Basin in September and
on October 14 Harrison fired driller O. L. Long for
insubordination and unsatisfactory work. Long had
relied heavily on the experience of McCune and with
the latter gone. Long's incompetence became
apparent.'*-

Harrison was wishing he had made more of an effort
to keep McCune at Oregon Basin. McCune knew his
job and the men worked well for him. Harrison hired
another driller named Mills in late October, but Mills
had not drilled for five years and being from the South,
could not handle the weather or the altitude. In
addition, he refused to work with driller Hesslin. On
October 20 Harrison contacted Koughan to see if he
could borrow some tools to fish a bit out of the hole at
the Pauline well. Koughan did not have the proper tools
but said he would build what was required. Harrison
left driller Hesslin in Cody to help Koughan. Instead of
helping Koughan, Hesslin went to several of the bars in
Cody and got drunk. He was fired on October 23.^^

With unrest among the men and the hiring of two new
drillers. Holmes and Williams from Casper, in addition
to problems with the Pauline well, Harrison had been
required to spend nearly four weeks at the drilling site.
The problems with the Pauline well, caving, filling
with water and lost tools, had resulted in unforeseen
expenses. Caplane put a ceiling on expenses for
Enalpac operations at $5,000 per month. On average,
expenses had only been $3,800 to $4,000 each month
but the existing problems had nearly doubled that for
the month of October, and November looked no
better.'*'' Harrison knew that there was oil at Oregon
Basin, but by November of 1912, he had to be
wondering if it was worth continuing.

December proved to be a better month than the
previous two. Harrison was happy with the work of his

two new drillers. A survey map of the Oregon Basin
field listing all of the locations and claims was nearing
completion. The comer posts for all of the claims had
been put in with the name of each claim being painted
on those posts, and discovery notices had been placed
at all of the discovery wells drilled during the previous
months. And in spite of problems, the Pauline well
reached a depth of 1,725 by Christmas eve. With the
situation apparently improving, Harrison left Oregon
Basin to visit family members in Indiana.^-

Though most other drilling operations in Wyoming
had already been halted due to the cold weather, CM.
Edgett, managing operations in Harrison's absence,
was trying to complete the Pauline well prior to
shutting down for the season. Cold weather and storms
were slowing operations to a near standstill. On
January 5, 1913, the temperature dropped to sixteen
below zero. Water lines to the boiler were freezing and
drilling was restricted to one daylight tower. On the
ninth the crew ran casing with the well blowing water
thirty feet above the floor. By January 21, the well
reached a depth of 2, 1 90 feet. The tool dresser was sick
and laid up in Cody, the cook had been in town drunk
for a week and was passing bad checks, but the rest of
the crew proceeded with the work at hand. On January
28 work was halted as the well continued to blow water
on the men.'*"

Oil-skin clothing arrived for the crew from Cody in
early February and the work on the Pauline well
resumed. It was decided to fill the hole in back up to a
depth of 1 ,760 feet where an oil bearing sand had been
encountered. The crew spent two and one-half days
dumping rocks into the well and pounding them down
with the drilling tools, but they seemed to disappear.
Returning from Indiana, Harrison ordered a joint of
casing to be filled with concrete. Once it had set up the
casing was lowered to the bottom of the hole and

■" Campbell to Burdick, December 27, 1912 and Burdick to
Campbell, February 1, 1913, Box 16, CBC. Enalpac articles of
incorporation, Box 39, CBC. Park County Enterprise, July 3,
1912.

'- Harrison to Waltman, October 5 and October 12, 1919, Box
25, CBC.

" Harrison to Waltman, October 19 and October 26, 1912, Box
25, CBC.

■" Harrison to Waltman November 2 and November 9, 1912,
Box 25. CBC. Waltman to Caplane, November 30, 1 9 1 2, Box 2 1 ,
CBC.

'^ Harrison to Waltman, December 4, 1 1 and 26, 191 2, Box 25,
CBC. Harrison diaries for 1912, THC.

"> Edgett to Waltman, January 1, 14, 21 and 28, 1913, Box 39,
CBC.

Autumn 1998

pounded down. Again, several loads of rock were
dumped into the well. Finally the bottom seemed to be
solid. The crew spent three days running the casing
because the well continued to blow water which froze
to the men and their oil skin clothing. Driller Knox said
that he had never worked in such adverse conditions in
his life, but in spite of situation, the work was
completed. Unfortunately, once the string of casing
was on the bottom, it settled twelve feet below the
desired depth. ^'

The casing was again pulled and rocks dumped into
the well. When the bottom seemed solid, the casing
was run again. This time it did not settle. In spite of this
minor success, Harrison stopped all work at the Pauline
site because water continued to blow from the well and
freeze to the men and equipment causing a number of
accidents. The crew did maintenance work on the star
rigs and ran guy wires from the steel derricks on the
McMahon and Pauline wells to anchors to prevent
them from being blown over by strong winds which
seemed to have settled over the area.

In the meantime Harrison contacted Waltman about
possible claim jumpers. A number of "scouts" had been
in Oregon Basin looking over the area throughout the
winter months.^" Harrison was doing all he could to
protect the field and in spite of the problems faced, told
Waltman, "I am very enthusiastic over the character of
the oil and the excellent prospects our two deep wells
have shown us existed. "''''

Harrison's concern over the possibility of claim
jumpers was echoed by the management in Casper.
Waltman ordered many of the shallow discovery wells
deepened to insure a good show of oil. The crews were
thus occupied with drilling deeper discovery wells and
trying to control the increasing flow of gas from the
Pauline well. But the nervousness over claim jumpers
continued when Harrison saw a Mr. Morrison of the
Midwest company wandering through the field. He
was also concerned with correspondence being carried
out between one of his drillers, Mr. Elsea, and Jack
McFadyen. McFadyen was the superintendent in
charge of the Ohio Oil Company's operations in
Wyoming. Though the Ohio was not producing oil in
Wyoming at that time, as a former member of the
Standard Oil family, their interest caused worry.'"

The lack of an important oil find at Oregon Basin was
becoming a point of concern for Caplane and the other
Enalpac investors. Caplane, along with D. A. Ehrlich
and W. D. Waltman arrived in Cody on July 17, 1913,
to investigate the tleld for themselves. After viewing
the McMahon and Pauline wells, Caplane informed

Harrison that he had retained the services of the
eminent Italian geologist, Cesare Porro, to conduct a
thorough study of Oregon Basin. Caplane also made
Harrison vice-president of Enalpac and appointed him
as the company's geologist. For this Harrison was to be
paid $250 per month. In addition, Harrison was
retained as consulting geologist by the Franco
Wyoming Company, another Caplane interest, at a fee
of $100 a month and thirty dollars per day expenses
when working in the field."''

Dr. Porro arrived at Oregon Basin on August 4 and
set up residence at the Cliffs Ranch. On the tlfth and
sixth, Harrison gave Porro a tour of the field and the
two geologists examined the McMahon and Pauline
well logs. The following day Porro told Harrison he
would rather examine the tleld alone in order to form
his own opinion. Porro tramped through the field by
himself for more than a week and on August 23,
informed Caplane that Oregon Basin had some good
points and bad points. The good was the structural
dome; the bad was a lack of oil in any of the croppings
of formations in which Enalpac was drilling. Porro
urged the drilling of three or four more deep test wells
at points he would designate, but felt that the field
would never be a large producer.'-

While Porro was making his assessment of the field,
Harrison was occupied with other projects. He recently
completed formal leasing agreements between himself
and his fellow locators and Enalpac Oil and Gas,
Overland Oil and Development and the Imperial Oil
Company, the latter two being wholly owned
subsidiaries of Enalpac. This agreement, coupled with
the fact that Harrison and his locators had received
patents on four quarter sections and one slightly
smaller tract, ( the patented land was the N W quarter of
Sec. 5, T. 51 N, R. 100 W, SE quarter of Sec. 5, T. 51
N, R. 1 00 W, SW quarter of Sec. 29. T. 5 1 N, R. 1 00 W,
N W quarter of Sec. 30, T. 5 1 N, R. 1 00 W and the S W
quarter of Sec. 32, T. 5 1 N, R. 1 00 W ) resulted in the

" Edgett to Waltman, February 5, 1Q13; Harrison to Waltman,
January 18, February 12 and 18, 1913, Bo.x 39. CBC.

" Harrison to Waltman, February 23 and 25, 1913, Bo.x 39,
CBC.

'" Harrison to Waltman, March 20, 1913, Box 39, CBC.

'° Harrison to Waltman, March 11, April 2 16, 1913, Box 39,
CBC. Mackey, Black Cold, 51. Hartzell Spence, Portrait in Oil:
How the Ohio Oil Company Grew to Become Marathon (New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1962), 23, 45, 70-71.

" Harrison to Waltman, July 22, 1913, Box 39, CBC.
Memorandum of .Agreement, July 1913, Box 25, CBC.

■ - Harrison to Waltman, August 7,8, 12, 19 and 26. 1913, Box
39, CBC.

Annals of Wyommg;Tne Wyoming History Journal

incoq^oration of the Oregon Basin Oil & Gas
Company, a business dealing solely with oil leases.
Lane was named president of the company with
Harrison, Lane and Casper attorney A. C. Campbell
serving as the board of directors. The articles of
incorporation were filed in Cheyenne on November 13,
1913.''

With a solid lease agreement for himself and his
locators and no major oil discovery in Oregon Basin,
Harrison began to look for other possibilities. He
located claims in the Little Buffalo Basin area eleven
miles south of Meeteetse and at Grass Creek, another
thirteen miles south of Little Buffalo Basin. The claims
were filed in October, 1 9 1 3, at the court houses in Park
and Hot Springs counties. Harrison believed both
fields had potential and took Dr. Porro to inspect Grass
Creek and Little Buffalo Basin once he had finished his
report on Oregon Basin. ^''

Following the completion of his report on Oregon
Basin, Porro chose a site on the SW quarter of Sec. 29,
T. 51 N, R. 100 W for the drilling ofthe next deep test
well. On September 3 one crew and the teamsters
began moving a steel derrick and drilling equipment to
Porro's site, known as the Hallene location, so that
drilling could begin at the earliest possible date. With
the crew involved in moving equipment and rigging up
to drill, Harrison and Porro spent two weeks looking
over Grass Creek and Little Buffalo Basin to determine
the oil prospects at those locations."' By late September
Harrison left Porro in Casper, where the two had been
examining the Salt Creek field, and returned to Oregon
Basin to superintend the drilling ofthe Hallene well.

Drilling on the Hallene well began on October 6,
1913. By November 17 the well was near 1,300 feet
deep but the hole was showing signs of going crooked.
Rock had been placed in the well and drilled out in an
effort to straighten the hole. The driller even put cast
iron down the well and drilled it out, but to no avail.
After a week with no success, a five foot piece of eight
inch pipe was placed in the hole to be drilled up, but it
disappeared altogether. Finally, after inserting and
drilling up an eight-foot-long piece of eight-inch pipe,
the hole was straightened. On December 9 the well was
down 1,457 feet and was flowing in excess of
5,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The following
week the gas flow had increased to 6.5 million cubic
feet. Harrison was upset at the waste of gas, but with
orders from Casper, he continued drilling.''

By mid-December the well was 1,515 feet deep. It
was caving badly and the flow of gas had increased.
Harrison again urged Waltman to cap the well to

prevent waste. At that point gas had been the only
product appearing in great quantity at Oregon Basin.
The property value depended entirely on the gas. The
flow of gas from the Hallene well had reached nearly
7,000,000 cubic feet per day and had been flowing at
that rate for two weeks. In addition, freezing weather
made it nearly impossible to supply water to the boiler
for the rig's steam-powered engine. Waltman finally
gave in and agreed to cap the well. On Christmas eve
casing was run to the bottom of the hole and by
December 26 the well was capped."

With the capping of the Hallene well, Enalpac
operations were closed down at Oregon Basin until
spring. For Harrison, the year 1913 had ended on much
the same note as 1 9 1 2. After nearly three years of work
and a large expenditure of money, Enalpac had three
good gas wells but had made no significant oil
discovery. Harrison spent January and February of
1914 reconsidering his claims at Grass Creek and Little
Buffalo Basin. It was also during those months that he
located and filed claims in Elk Basin, approximately
twenty-five miles northeast of the Cliffs Ranch. The
Elk claims, as they were called, were filed at the
County Court House in Cody on March 12, 1914.'*

Harrison also made a trip through Badger Basin,
approximately thirty miles north ofthe Cliffs ranch, in
the early months of 1914 and examined that structure.
He determined that the Frontier formation in that area
was in excess of 4,000 feet deep and not worth locating.
His observations proved true as the discovery well at
Badger Basin was not drilled until 1 93 1 and was 8,723
feet deep (that well was a world 'record for a cable tool
rig at that time). By early March Harrison completed
his reports on Elk Basin, Little Buffalo Basin and Grass

" Mackey, Black Gold, 36. Lease agreement between Oregon
Basin Oil and Gas Company and Enalpac Oil and Gas Company,
1, Box 367, Warwick Downing Collection (WDC), American
Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. Wyoming Tribune,
November 19, 1913.

" Harrison diaries for 1913, THC. Records ofthe County Clerk,
Park County Court House, Cody, Wyoming. Thomas Harrison,
"Cesare Porro (1865-1940)" in The Bulletin of the American
Association of Petroleum Geologists, August 1952, 1684.
Roberts, Salt Creek, 104-05.

" Harrison to Waltman, September 2, 9 and 19, 1913, Box 39,
CBC. Harrison diaries for 1913, THC. Cook, Wiley's Dream of
Empire, 88-89.

" Harrison to Waltman, October 8, November 26, December 9
and 14, 1913, Box 39, CBC.

" Harrison to Waltman, December 21 and 31, 1913, Box 39,
CBC.

*' Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. Records ofthe County Clerk,
Park County Court House.

Autumn 1998

Creek sending them off to the Midwest Refining
Company in Casper in an effort to interest them in
drilling those three fields. ^'^

In the meantime Waltman, Enalpac's corporate
manager, was looking for a market for the Oregon
Basin gas. He met C. A. de SauUes, of the American
Smelting and Retlning Company, at Crawford,
Nebraska. The two men went to Oregon Basin to
examine the wells. American Smelting, according to
de SauUes, would consider building a zinc smelter in
Cody if, in addition to a good gas supply, top quality
coal and clay deposits also could be found in the area.
Such a smelter would consume approximately
7,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The gas wells
impressed de Saulles who forwarded his report to Mr.
Newhouse, the vice-president of American Smelting.
Unfortunately, as Waltman soon learned, the zinc
smelting industry was suffering from over production
and losing money.""

The drilling crews returned to Oregon Basin in
March of 1 9 1 4, and worked on completing the Hallene
well through mid-May. Harrison, in the meantime,
grew disillusioned with the Enalpac operation and
resigned as president and Oregon Basin field
superintendent in May. D. A. Ehrlich took Harrison's
place as field manager. Harrison accepted a position as
consulting geologist for the Midwest Refining
Company. He was to be Midwest's on-site consultant
for drilling operations at Grass Creek and Little
Buffalo Basin. The company had approved Harrison's
exploration suggestions concerning those structures."'

On May 9, 1914, President Wilson issued a second
withdrawal order. The order stated that approximately
85,000 acres of federal land in Big Horn, Park,
Washakie and Hot Springs counties was to be
withdrawn from future oil exploration. The original
withdrawal order came on September 27, 1 909 and was
issued by President Taft. At that time conservationists
like Gifford Pinchot were concerned that the increased
use of petroleum for automobiles and the conversion of
ships and trains from coal to oil, would result in too
great of a demand on the country's petroleum reserves.
However, it was stipulated that any land claimed or
drilled prior to the issuing of the order belonged to the
claimants and could be explored. For that reason some
lands in Oregon Basin and other fields in northwest
Wyoming targeted by the withdrawal order were not
affected."-

In June of 1914, with the outbreak of World War I in
Europe, Harrison's decision to leave Enalpac was
further justified. During the late summer Germany

invaded France and P. E. de Caplane was wounded in
one of the early battles. With France at war, Caplane's
investment capital in the Oregon Basin operation
quickly dwindled. Though several more deep test wells
would be drilled in that field, Harrison focused on
exploration at Grass Creek and Little Buffalo Basin. "^

When Harrison arrived at Grass Creek in late April of
1914 to take care of drilling equipment being sent by
the Midwest company, he found that he was not alone.
The Orchard and Worland group, backed by Valentine
of California, had jumped Harrison's claims.
Worland's men were armed and intended to keep
everyone else out of the tleld. Harrison apprised
Midwest company officials of the situation and they
brought in their own armed men. Valentine and
Midwest officials reached an agreement in time to
avoid a gun battle."''

Actual possession of a tleld was often more
important than paper claims. Historian Hartzell Spence
described oil claims best when he stated, "the man who
made his Placer Act claims stick was the one who could
dig in, hang on, and, if necessary, shoot back."""

In late June of 1914, the discovery well at Grass
Creek was brought in on the NE quarter of Section 18.
It was a fifty-barrel per day well and produced a light
paraffin oil from the Frontier formation. It was not long
before the Ohio and the Midwest company were both
drilling at Grass Creek. After Harrison had filed his
Grass Creek claims he organized the Grass Creek Oil
and Gas Company with S. A. Lane as president. This
was a leasing company based along the same lines as
the Oregon Basin Oil and Gas Company. Lane leased
the Grass Creek claims to both the Midwest and the

'' Harrison diaries for 1914. THC. Cook. ir;7fc'\''.s Dream of
Empire, 88-89. United States Department of the Interior. Bureau
of Mines, Bulletin 418, "Petroleum and Natural Gas Fields in
Wyoming," 10-12. Thomas Harrison. "Geology Report for the
Midwest Oil Company," 1920, 15, THC.

"" Waltman to Caplane, March 13, 27 and April 25, 1914, Box
21,CBC.

'■' Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. Waltman to Caplane. May
18, 1914. Cook, Wiley's Dream of Empire, 89.

"- Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. Waltman to Caplane, May
27, 1914, Box 21, CBC. Mackey, Black Gold. 23-24. Roberts, Salt
Creek, 53-55. Bates, The Origins of Teapot Dome, 22. Gressley,
The Twentieth-Century American H'est, 70.

" Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. Waltman to Caplane,
October 23, 1914. Box 21, CBC.

"■' Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. Cook, IViley's Dream of
Empire, 89. Ellen Sue Blakey, "Wild West Wyoming" in Oil on
Their Shoes: Petroleum Geology to 19! 8 (Tulsa: The American
Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1985).

'' Spence, Portrait in Oil, 66.

Annals oi Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal

Ohio. During the next few years more than 300 wells
were drilled in that tleld."^

On September 29, 1914, Ed N. Harrison was bom at
the Cliffs Ranch in Oregon Basin. Thomas Harrison
was doing survey work and preparing to drill at Little
Buffalo Basin at the time. In November of 1914 gas
was discovered in the Frontier formation on the NW
quarter of Section 2. Though it was an important
discovery and several more wells were drilled. Little
Buffalo Basin remained a gas producing field until the
late 1930's."

By the close of 1914 the war in Europe had led
French investors in oil exploration in Wyoming to
further cut financing of those projects. As a result
Harrison's employment
as a geologist by Enalpac
and the Franco Wyoming
was terminated.*''* In spite
of that, his reputation
with the Midwest com-
pany was growing and he
had made several impor-
tant discoveries at Little
Buffalo Basin and Grass
Creek. Harrison's future
as a petroleum geologist
was looking up.

In 1915 Harrison was
carrying out geological
surveys for the Midwest
company in Montana,
Wyoming, Colorado and
Oklahoma. During this
period he continued to
urge Midwest to drill at
Elk Basin. By the sum-
mer of 1915 Midwest
agreed. The company
engaged the services of
driller Gustave O.
Forsman and the Elk Basin discovery well was brought
in on October 8, 1 9 1 5, in the Frontier fonnation. Initial
production was approximately 1 50 barrels per day but
as the result of a legal injunction caused by claim
disputes, the well was capped. Once the legal disputes
were resolved, over the next year and one-half more
than forty wells were drilled at Elk Basin. When the
discovery was made the Midwest and Ohio moved
quickly to exploit the field.*''

Harrison's reputation as geologist continued to grow.
In January of 1 9 1 6, as a result of his suggesdons to drill

at Grass Creek and Elk Basin, the Midwest Refining
Company promoted Harrison to Chief Geologist. His
salary was $5,000 per year with an additional rate of
fifty dollars per day whenever he was in the field. The
promotion was impressive considering that most oil
companies did not have geology departments at that
time. In February Harrison left northwest Wyoming
and moved his family to Denver, the Midwest
company headquarters.'"

Harrison resigned from the Midwest company in
1920. He worked as an independent consultant,
becoming one of the most highly respected geologists
in the Rocky Mountain region. It is likely that
Harrison's greatest regret was not finding oil at Oregon

Basin, the field where he
started his career in the
oil industry, and the field
he knew would be a great
petroleum producer.

After Harrison left
Enalpac, that company
stagnated. A few more
gas wells were drilled
but the owners lost
interest. In 1920, as a
result of the enactment
of the Oil and Gas
Leasing Act, Enalpac
lost control of the Or-
egon Basin field. Due to
Enalpac's inactivity the
majority of the field was
leased to others. In 1926
the Ohio Oil Company
hired Paul Stock Drilling

Harrison Collection
Thomas Harrison. Consulting Geologist, 1929.

** Harrison diaries for
1914, THC. Harrison well
logs and drilling reports for
Grass Creek, 1914, THC.
"Petroleum and Natural Gas
Thomas Harrison, "Grass Creek
Wyoming," Structure of Typical
1929. David Dickey suite, Grass

Fields in Wyoming," 37-39.
Dome, Hot Springs County,
American Oil Fields, Vol. 11,
Creek, Box 16, CBC.

^' Harrison diaries for 1914, THC. "Petroleum and Natural Gas
Fields in Wyoming," 54-55.

*■* Burdick to Waltman, December 19, 1914 and Burdick to
Harrison, December 17, 1914, Box 25, CBC.

<>" Harrison diaries for 1915, THC. Mackey, Blacli Gold, 54.
"Petroleum and Natural Gas Fields in Wyoming," 27-28. Richard
W. Heasler Jr., "Gustave O. Forsman and the Discovery of Badger
Basin Oil," (Unpublished Paper, May 1997), 19-24, 40.

™ Harrison diaries for 1916 and 1917, THC.

Autumn 1998

to put down a well in Oregon Basin. Stock, using new
improved drill bits, brought in a rotary rig and was able
to drill down and "mud off the gas bearing sand which
had plagued Enalpac for so many years. On February
1, 1927, oil was discovered in the Embar sand at a
depth of 3,354 feet." Harrison was right about Oregon
Basin's potential. It is the third largest producing field
in Wyoming's history. To date it has produced more
than 440 million barrels of oil and 2 1 2 billion cubic feet
of gas.

Thomas Harrison played an important role in the
discovery of oil in northwest Wyoming. His story is
indicative of many of those "rugged individuals" who
came west to tame the frontier. Though he possessed
the knowledge required and demonstrated a willing-
ness to work hard, it was not enough. He still required
the financing and technology of major corporations and
approval of the federal government to use the land to
succeed. Though he made important contributions to

the discovery of oil in Northwest Wyoming and went
on to become one of the most highly regarded
petroleum geologists in the Rocky Mountain region,
Thomas Harrison failed to realize his dream of
controlling and producing the Oregon Basin oil field.

"' General Land Office to Enalpac, July 22, 1920, Box 23, CBC.
Billings Gazette, June 28, 1928, 4. Mackey, Black Cold, 42-43.

Mike Mackey is an independent historian liv-
ing in Powell. He has published a number of
articles and books dealing with various aspects
of Wyoming history. The author would like to
thank the University of Wyoming 's Bernard
Majewski Fellowship for a grant to research
and write this paper.

Letters to tne Editor

Another Origin for the Phrase?

Editor:

As usual I enjoy the Annals of Wyoming and espe-
cially the last issue which had the Jordan auto ad.
Being an old car buff of sorts, I have a reproduction
of it framed on our wall.

"Somewhere West of Laramie" is a real catchy
phrase. I liked it better when our famous Wyoming
train bandit (Bill Carlisle) used it a few years before
the Jordan ad.

I am enclosing an excerpt out of his book. The Lone
Bandit.

Sincerely,

Paul Canoso, Diamondville

Excerpt from Bill Carlisle. Lone Bandit, p. 147:

"A woman and her daughter had the room directly
above me and during the week I became acquainted with
them. Together we talked and laughed over the letter
which appeared on the front page of the Denver Post and
which was worded as follows:

Denver Post:

To prove that this letter is the real thing, I am enclosing
a watch-chain which I took from the last hold-up out of
Cheyenne— this chain can easily be identified.

To convince the officers that they ha\ e the wrong men
in jail, I will hold up a train somewhere west of Laramie,
Wyoming.

(signed) The White Masked Bandit"

Comment on "Project Wagon Wheel"

Editor:

....[Project Wagon Wheel: A Nuclear Plowshare for
Wyoming] was an interesting account and Adam
[Ledererjcertainly covered the Plowshare histor\ well
and laid a good foundation for the Wagon Wheel
project....

Sincerely,

Sally Mackey, Pinedale

HaOB

Recent Acquisitions in the
Hebard Collection, UW Libraries

Compiled by Tamsen L. Hert, University of Wyoming Libraries

The Grace Raymond Hebard Wyoming
Collection is a branch of the University of
Wyoming Libraries housed in the Owen Wister
Western Writers Reading Room in the American
Heritage Center. Primarily a research collection,
the core of this collection is Miss Hebard's personal
library which was donated to the university
libraries. Further donations have been significant
in the development of this collection. While it is
easy to identify materials about Wyoming
published by nationally known publishers, it can be
difficult to locate pertinent publications printed in
Wyoming. The Hebard Collection is considered to
be the most comprehensive collection on Wyoming
in the state.

If you have any questions about these
materials or the Hebard Collection, you can contact
me by phone at 307-766-6245; by email,
thert@uwyo.edu or you can access the Hebard
HomePage at: http://www.uwyo.edu/lib/heb.htm.

New Publications

Flood, Elizabeth Clair. Rocky Mountain Home:
Spirited Western Hideaways. Salt Lake City:
Gibbs- Smith Publisher, 1996.
Hebard & Coe NK 2004 .F66 1996b

Knight, Christina L. The Changing Character and

Land Use of a Gateway Community: Jackson

Hole, Wyoming: a Thesis. University of Kansas,

1997.

Hebard HD 211 .W8 K654 1997

ICraulis, J. A. From Acadia to Yellowstone: the
National Parks of the United States. New York:
Smithmark, 1996.
Hebard & Coe E 160 .K73 1996

Kylloe, Ralph. Fishing Camps. Salt Lake City,
UT: Gibbs-Smith Publisher, 1996.
Hebard & Science SH 462 .K95 1996

Includes the Crescent H Ranch and the
Spotted Horse Ranch in Wyoming.

Anderson, Nancy K. Thomas Moran.

Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Hebard N 6797 .M576 A4 1997

Cheney, Richard B. and Lynne V. Cheney. Kings

of the Hill: Power and Personality in the House

of Representatives. New York: Simon & Schuster,

1996.

Hebard & Coe JK 1411 .C48 1996

Melford, Michael. Big Sky Country: A View of
Paradise: the Best of Montana, North Dakota,
Wyoming and Idaho. New York: Rizzoli
International Publications, 1996.
Hebard & Coe F 590.7 .M45 1996

Miller, Mark E. Hollow Victory: the White River
Expedition of 1879 and the Battle of Milk Creek.

Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1997.
Hebard & Coe E 83.879 .M56 1997

Dawson, Louis W. Wild Snow: A Historical
Guide to North American Ski Mountaineering.

Golden, CO: The American Alpine Club, 1997.
Hebard & Coe GV 854.9 .S56 D39 1997

Monaghan, Jay. Tom Horn: Last of the Bad Men.

Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997

Hebard & Coe E 83.88 .H67 H34 1997

Drinkard, G. Lawson. Retreats: Handmade
Hideaways to Refresh the Spirit. Salt Lake City,
UT: Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 1997.
Hebard & Science TH 4835 .D75 1997

Moulton, Candy. Roadside History of Wyoming.

Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company,

1995.

Hebard, Coe & CoeRef F 761 .M68 1995

Autumn 1998

Pisani, Donald J. Water, Land, and Law in the
West: The Limits of Public Policy, 1850-1920.

Lawrence, KS; University Press of Kansas, 1996.
Hebard & Coe HD 1695 .W4 P57 1996

Rawlins, C. L. Broken Country: Mountains &

Memory. New York: Henry Holt and Company,

1996.

Hebard & Science QH 104.5 .W4R36 1996

Simpson, Alan K. Right in the Old Gazoo: a
Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press. New York:
William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1997,
Hebard & Coe PN 4888 .P6 S56 1997

Steinhart, Peter. The Company of Wolves.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Hebard & Science QL 737 .C22 S74 1995

Stories From an Open Country: Essays on the
Yellowstone River Valley. Billings, MT: Western
Heritage Press, 1995.
Hebard & Coe F 737 .Y4 S76 1995

Sumner, Mark. Devil's Tower New York:

Ballantine Books, 1996.

Hebard & Coe PS 3569 .U4655 D485 1996

Utley, Robert M. A Life Wild and Perilous:
Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific

York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997.
Hebard & Coe F 592 .U87 1997

New

Vander, Judith. Shoshone Ghost Dance Religion:
Poetry Songs and Great Basin Context Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Hebard & Coe ML 3557 .V34 1997

INDEX

Allen School(Missouri) 29

American Heritage Center 29

American Smelting 43

American Smelting and Refining Company 43

Andrew, Peter 16

Badger Basin 42

Baptist Church, Evansville 27

Baronette, Jack 14, 18

Barton, B.S. 10

Bates Hole, 24

Bedbugs 30

Bell Theater, (photo) 24

"Big Dutch" well 33

Big Horn Mountains 15, 16

Bishop, Marvin L. 26

Bitterroot Mountains 10

Bonneville, B. L. E. 9

Bradley, Frank 9

Bradshaw, Eva 29

Brick-making, Casper 22

Bridger, Jim 12

Burdick, Charles W. 39

Byron, Wyo. 35

Campbell, A. C. 39, 42

Canoso, Paul 45

Canton, Mo. 29

Caplane 39, 41

Carey Act irrigation project 32

Carlisle, Bill 45

Cashmere, Wash 19

Casper 21-26

Casper's first brick mansion 26

Casper's first town hall (photo) 24

Cawston Ostrich Farm 25

Clark, William 10

Center street, Casper 21 (photo, 21)

Chickens 2-6

Chicks, raising 5

City/County Jail (Casper) 23. 27

Clay, Carroll 31

Clay mine 22

Cliffs Ranch 35, 41

Cliffs Ranch in Oregon Basin 33

"Cliffs Ranch" in Oregon Basin (photo) 32

Colorado School of Mines 32

Colt Killed Creek 8

Commissioner of Public Lands 38

Coolidge, Pres. Calvin 8

Couer d'Alene Indians 13

County Superintendent 31

Cox, Lafe 16

Crawford, Nebraska 43

Davis, William 17

de Caplane, P. E. 37

de Saulles, C. A. 43

Deer Family 1 5

Doane, Gustavus C. 15

"Douglas Dip." 34

Downey, Dr. June Etta 29

Dunraven, Earl of 13,14, 15

Edgett, C. M. 39, 40

Edson, Marshall 17

Eggs 2, 6

Ehrlich, D. A. 41, 43

Elk Basin 42, 44

Elk migration 8

Elk of North America 7. 1 8

Emery, - 34

Enalpac Oil and Gas Company 39, 4 1 , 43, 44

Erben, Emanuel 2 1 , 36

Evans, Archibald F. (Arch) 21

Evans, Beatrice 22, 23

Evans, Cecil 21

Evans, Clementina 21

Evans, Elizabeth Caroline Hunt 20

death of 23
Evans, Ernest 26
Evans. Herbert O. 22, 23
Evans, Ralph Walter 21
Evans Realty Company 27
Evans, Trevor James 21
Evans, Wealthy 28
Evans, William J. 26
Evans, William Tranter 20-28

death of 28
Evansville 20

incorporated 27

platted 27

street names in 27
Evansville Garage and Grocery 27
Evansville Historical Commission 28
Fisher, C. A. 35
Fisher River 10
Fishing Bridge 12
Florence, Colorado 32, 36
Forsman, Gustave O. 44
Fort Bridger 13
Fort Owen ledger 1 3
Foster, Eunice 29
Franco Wyoming Company 37, 41
Franco Wyoming Oil Company 39
Frison, George 19
Frontier formation 42
Garland field 35
General Land Office in Chevenne 32

Annals of Wyoming ;TKe Wyoming History Journal

Glass, Jefferson 20, (bio) 28

Gothbera ranch 22

Grand Teton National Park 12

Grant, Neb. 21

Grass Creek 33, 42, 43

Grass Creek Oil and Gas Company 43

Gressley, Gene 33

Grinnell, George Bird 13, 14, 15

grizzly bear 7

Guaranteed Investment Company of Casper 27

GulfOil 34

Gulliford, Dr. Andrew (photo) 30

Ham's Fork of the Green River 12

Hallenewell 39, 42

Harrison, Ed N. 44

Harrison, Ruth Wiley 33, 36

Harrison, Thomas S. 32

Hayden survey expedition 9

Hebard, Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard 29

"Herding Chickens on a Wyoming Cattle

Ranch" 2-6
Herrick Ranch 2
Hesslin, driller 40
Hudson's Bay Company 10
Humbert, Pierre 38
Hunting Trips on the Prairie and in the

Mountains 1 6
Idaho Wildlife Review 1 7
Imperial Oil Company 41
International Drilling Trust 34, 37
Jackson Hole Elk Refuge 8
Jones, J. R. 16
Journal of a Trapper 1 2
Kanota 1 1

Kay, Dr. Charles 18, 19
Kimball, W. S. 22
King and Company bank 23
Kittson, William 10
Kno.x, driller 41
Kootenai House 10
Koughan, Sid 35, 40
Lamar Valley 12
Lane, Septimus A. 34, 36, 37
Lawrence, Amy 2, (bio) 6
Lawrence, William H. (Bill) and Rena Lawrence

2, (photo, 4)
Lemhi Pass 1 1
Lewis and Clark 8, 10, 16
Lewiston Morning Tribune 7, 10, 18
Little Buffalo Basin 33, 42, 43, 44
Lobell, Joseph H. 33, 37
Long, O. L. 40
Ludlow, Colonel William 14
Mackey, Mike 32, (bio) 45
Mackey, Sally 45
Majewski Fellowship 45
Mammoth Hot Springs Basin 14
McFadyen, John 41
McMahonwell 39, 40
Meeteetse 42
"Memories of Wyoming Teacher Wana Clay

Olson" 29
Merriam, Clinton 9
Midwest Refining Company 43
Miller, Jody 29
Missouri Breaks 14
Mountain wapiti 10

>^^^3

Murie, Margaret and Olaus (photo) 1 7

Murie, Olaus 7, 8, 9, 1 1, 16, 18, 19

National Elk Commission 8

National Elk Refuge 12, 18

Natrona Pipe Line and Refining Company 39

Necrotic stomatilis 8

Newell, Robert 1 1

Nicolaysen, Edith Beulah 23

Nicolaysen, Elizabeth Maren 23

Nicolaysen, Peter C. 22, 28

Nielson, Errol 17, 18

Norris, Philetus W. 15

Ogden, Peter Skene 10

Ohio Oil Company 41, 44

Oil and Gas Leasing Act 36, 44

Oil fields 32-45

"Old Central" (Casper) 22

Olson, Wana Clay 29

Orchard and Worland group 43

Oregon Basin 33, 35, 39, 41, 43, 45

Oregon Basin anticline 36

Oregon Basin Oil & Gas Company 42

Oregon Basin Oil and Gas Company 43

Oregon Basin oil field 45

Ostrich 28, (photo) 25

Overland Oil Company 40

Palmer, A.xel 2, (photo, 5)

Palmer, Joel 13

Park County Court House 36

Paul Stock Drilling 44

Pauline well, 40

Payette River 1 1

Pend d'Oreille 17

Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Company 34

Pennsylvania Oil Company refinery 23

Perkins County, Nebraska 21

Philippot, Mr. - 37

Phillips Petroleum 34

Pinchot, Gifford 43

Placer Act claims 43

Plains elk 9

Point, Father Nicolas 13

Polk, Lou 23

Porro, Dr. Cesare 33,41

Portneuf river 10

Powder River 1 1

Project Wagon Wheel 45

Quealy Dome school 30

Richards and Cunningham block 26

Richards and Cunningham building (photo) 23

Richards, Cunningham, and Company 23

Riley, Dr. Glenda 29

Ritchie, Brent 17, 18

Rohrbaugh and Smith blocks 26

Roosevelt, Theodore 15,16

Rosebud Creek 12

Ross, Alexander 10, II

Rotary drilling bits 35

Russell, Osborne 12, 14, 15, 18, 19

Sage Creek Reservoir 38

St. Mark's Episcopal Church 22, 26

Salmon River 1 1

Salt Creek 33, 37

"Savvy of a Sage: Olaus Murie and the Historic

Range of Wapiti in the West" 7-19
"Schoolmanns and Scholars: Women Educators

of the West" 29

Shannon field 34

Shannon, Phillip M. 34

Sheepeater Indians 12

Shoshone Mountains 1 5

Snake River 9

Snake River Brigade 10

"Somewhere west of Laramie" 45

Spanish-American war 26

Spindletop 35

Standard Oil 34

"Star" portable drilling rigs 38, 39

Staffordshire, England 20

Stanley, Wealthy 26

State Engineer's Office 38

Stephenson, John A. 30

Stock, Hugh "Daddy" 33

Strong, General W. E. 14, 15, 18

Stuart, Granville 15

Talbot, Bishop Ethelbert 22

Tennis 28

Texas Company 27, 34

"The Cliffs" in Oregon Basin (photo) 37

"Thomas Harrison and the Search for Oil in

Northwest Wyoming" 32-45
Thunder Mountain 1 7
Union Pacific Railroad 34
United States Forest Service 1 7
United States Geological Survey 35
Valentine of California 43
Waltman 41
Waltman, W. D. 39, 41
Wapiti 10. See also Elk
Washburn survey 15
Washburn, Chester W. 35
White Masked Bandit 45
Wiley, Solon 32
Wiley, Solon L. 33
Williams, J. C. 22
Wilson, Uncle Nick 13
Winter range 8
Wolfe, Emil 9
Work, John 11
Wyeth, Nathaniel 11
Wyoming Derrick 22
Wyoming Labor Journal 34
Wyoming Maatschappij 33
Wyoming Oil and Development Company 34
Wyoming Oil Fields Company 39
Wyoming Refining Company 27
Yellowstone National Park 9, II, 14, 16, 17
Yellowstone River 12
Zontek, Ken 7 (bio) 19

§850,

Wyoming Pictures

Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) is shown riding a camel (right) on a trip to the Pyramids in Eg\-pt. The other
camel is ridden by her grandson David. Ross, the first woman elected governor of any state when she won
election in Wyoming in 1924, ser\'ed as director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia fi-om 1933 to 1953.
She was the first woman named to that post. The camel tenders posing proudly are not identified in this photo-
graph fi-om the Nellie Tayloe Ross collection, American Heritage Center. Universit}' of Wyoming.

Join tne ^OC^oming State Historical Society

a your local historical society cnapter

an(

State Membership Dues:

Single: $20

Joint: $30

Student (under age 21): $15

Institutional: $40

Benefits of membership include four issues per
year of Annals of Wyoming, ten issues of the
newsletter, "Wyoming History News," and the
opportunity to receive information about and
discounts for various Society activities.

Special membership categories:

Contributing: $100-249

Sustaining: $250-499

Patron: $500-999

Donor: $1,000 +

The Society also welcomes special gifts and
memorials.For information about membership
in the Wyoming State Historical Society and in-
formation about local chapters, contact

Judy West, Society Coordinator

1740H184 Dell Range Blvd.

Cheyenne VVY 82009

m'^.'-^.r'Jmm'Ti^-^

'^i^'T^m:

,■:«*.

L'Sfis.»w>*B,S"M»s«!-'

;.i#sp(»*8j<K^rv(»i;-

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Annals of Wyoming"

See other formats